Despite a refusal by a woman to give evidence against her former husband charged with attempting to murder her, a jury found him guilty on Wednesday. Trevor Creft, who had been out on bail, was handcuffed and taken into custody to return on April 13 for mitigation and sentence. The victim, Tricia Anthony, 25, was not in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court when the nine-member jury gave its verdict after an hour of deliberations.
Anthony’s throat was slit and she was stabbed during the June 2009 incident which took place at her mother’s home. At the start of the trial before Justice Maria Wilson, Anthony said she did not wish to pursue the matter any further. She also claimed she could not recall the events on the day she was almost murdered.
Anthony said one of the reasons she did not want to give evidence was because she depended on Creft for financial support to care for their son. She said she also forgave him. She ,along with two other witnesses—her mother, Angela, and brother Ronald—were deemed to be hostile after they too claimed not to remember what transpired on that day.
The mother and brother were at home during the incident
In her evidence at the Siparia Magistrates’ Court, Anthony said Creft attacked her with a seven-inch knife, which resulted in her receiving injuries across her throat, lacerations to her chest and the right hand, leaving her fingers useless. As a result of the latter injury, she receives a disability grant.
State attorney Mauricia Joseph, however, read her evidence at the magistrates’ court and her statements to the police, along with the other two witnesses into evidence. Although she kept saying she could not remember what transpired, when Joseph asked her if she had forgiven Creft for slitting her throat and stabbing her, Anthony said she did.
Anthony testified in the magistrates’ court that she left Creft and moved in with her mother because he was abusive and would hit her. She said on the day of the incident Creft came to her mother’s house to get $100. When she went to give him the money, Anthony said Creft attacked her with the knife.
She claimed she grabbed the knife, but he pulled it away and tried to cut her neck. Anthony had said he held her in a chokehold and tried to stab her in her chest. She said she also got a vertical cut on her throat. Anthony said all she could remember before blacking out was the knife going through her neck. She spent two weeks at hospital.
Anthony showed the jury the scars to her neck after she was asked to do so by the prosecutor. Joseph was assisted by attorney Brandon Sookoo while attorney Herbert Charles, instructed by Mosi Charles, represented Creft.