Businesswoman freed of wounding and resisting arrest charges

A St Andrew businesswoman who was accused of causing injuries to a policewoman’s finger while allegedly hindering arrest has been freed of wounding and resisting arrest charges.

Sophia Singh, widow of popular car mart owner Deon Singh, who died last July under bizarre circumstances, was accused of causing the policewoman to tear one of her fingernails from the nail bed.

The 55-year-old woman was acquitted of the charges on Friday following a trial in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, before Parish Judge Maxine Ellis.

The allegations are that on July 22, 2024, Sophia, while being escorted by the police into the Half-Way-Tree Police Station, started behaving aggressively.

It was further alleged that Sophia, while being led by the complainant, pulled away from the policewoman, causing her to injure her finger.

The incident occurred in the reception area of the police station while Sophia’s husband, who was in the holding area of the court, pulled an officer’s weapon and shot and killed him before turning the gun on himself. Lawmen had also fired at the businessman who had attended court on fraud charges.

Justice Ellis, in finding Sophia not guilty, accepted closing submissions from her attorney, Javed Grant, that the Crown failed to discharge its burden of proof and that there were doubts about how the policewoman had sustained the injuries and whether it was the accused who was to be blamed.

During the trial, the policewoman maintained that she sustained injuries to her right hand, which an eyewitness supported. However, the medical report indicated the injuries to the left hand and also recorded an earlier date than the one provided by the policewoman.

Consequently, during his cross-examination, Grant sought to discredit the policewoman’s credibility while highlighting that the injuries described were inconsistent with the medical report and the testimony of other police witnesses for the Crown.

- Tanesha Mundle

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