Painter remanded for threatening to harm woman with cutlass

A 55-year-old painter was on Tuesday remanded to prison after he was accused of threatening bodily harm during a confrontation at Alexander Village, Georgetown.
Muneshwar Persaud, of Lot 21 First Street, Alexander Village, appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where he faced two charges – one for threatening behaviour and another for using threatening language.

It is alleged that on October 6, at First Street, Alexander Village, Stabroek, Georgetown, Persaud used threatening behaviour and language towards Roshanna Stewart. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Initially, the prosecution raised no objections to bail. However, when the virtual complainant, Stewart, was given the opportunity to address the court, she expressed fear for her safety.
Stewart told the court that Persaud lives in the same yard as her, but in a separate house to the back. She claimed that he often becomes abusive whenever he is intoxicated, and on the day in question, “it got out of control”.
She alleged that Persaud armed himself with a cutlass and threatened to “bore out her eyes” and burn down her house.
“There was a grill by the door. I was inside the house, and he pushed the cutlass through the grill… He always behaves like this when he drinks, but this is the furthest it has gone,” she told the court.
According to the prosecution, while the case file did not include the allegation of burning down the house, it did state that the accused pushed the cutlass through the grill and made violent threats towards the complainant.
In light of the seriousness of the allegations and the close proximity in which the two reside, Magistrate McGusty enquired whether Persaud had an alternative place to stay.
When he indicated that he did not, the Magistrate ordered that he be remanded to prison until October 15, pending the continuation of the matter.