Court orders medical eval for alleged attacker in B.B. Coke school beating case
Published:Wednesday | October 4, 2023 | 6:11 PM
The St Elizabeth Parish Court has ordered that the 16-year-old B.B. Coke High School student who is accused of beating his schoolmate unconscious, is to receive a professional medical evaluation.
The examination is to take place before the minor's next court appearance on November 17.
The court made the order on Wednesday following an application by Hopeton Marshall, the attorney for the grade 11 student.
During the proceedings, it was disclosed that the complainant, who was hospitalised following the savage incident, is still recovering at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).
Additionally, Marshall made an application for disclosure of documents from the prosecution, as there are a number of statements which are still outstanding.
The accused schoolboy was charged last weekend with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm after he reportedly punched and kicked the complainant, a grade nine student, into unconsciousness while both were at their St Elizabeth-based school.
He was offered bail on Monday.
Reports indicate that the attack, in which the defendant allegedly punched the younger boy in both eyes and kicked him in the head, happened after the complainant reportedly stepped on the older student's shoes while they were collecting their cellular phones at a security post on the school compound.
The 14-year-old complainant was subsequently caught in a viral video being carried to a doctor's office in Junction by five other schoolmates,.
He was admitted to the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester before later being transferred to the UHWI for further treatment, including a CT scan.
The incident has sparked public outrage.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has commended the five boys who assisted the complainant.
- Christopher Thomas
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