SHANE Hanniford, the KFC employee who is accused of dousing a customer with hot oil, was yesterday remanded in custody after the complainant in the case gave damning evidence against him in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court.

“He made a motion to throw it to the left. I moved to the right. It was a fake. He faked again to the right,” Kwame Phidd, the complainant in the case of assault occasioning bodily harm against Hanniford, said during sworn testimony before Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle.

“The supervisor’s back was turned and it was like he was going to throw it on both of us. I grabbed the supervisor and pushed her and ran to the left leading towards the exit. While I was running towards the door, the oil hit me. It was so hot that when it hit me, it felt like a blow. I fell to my knees and started screaming. It was a lot of pain,” the complainant told the court.

Phidd also gave testimony that while he was on his knees, the accused man stood watching him before dropping a pot and sprinting towards the exit.

“When he went for the door, I jumped forward and held him, bawling out ‘Hold Him, hold him, hold him’. I could not hold him any longer as the oil was beginning to seep into the skin. I had to let go and started fighting to get off my shirt. I just got numb after that,” Phidd said.

The complainant said he saw a man with a gun chasing Hanniford and shooting in the air before he was dragged into the kitchen and doused with water. He was then taken to the Accident and Emergency Unit of the University Hospital of the West Indies where he was admitted for several weeks.

Phidd was asked by the court to show where on his body he was burnt and he obliged by removing his jacket, tie and shirt, revealing burn marks on the back of his shoulders and neck, as well as his lower back and right side.

According to Phidd, a dispute developed between Hanniford and himself after he and three females, one of them his fiancée, went to the Manor Park branch of the KFC chain of food stores to purchase meals. While there, Phidd told the court that Hanniford made a pass at one of the women.

“He said, ‘Hey sexy girl’ or something to that effect,” Phidd said.

Phidd said Hanniford’s advances made the women uncomfortable and to soothe their concerns he approached a security guard and made a complaint.

But Hanniford was persistent and went behind a glass door which separated customer and staff areas and stood staring at the women before he pushed his head from behind the door and continued trying to get the woman’s attention.

“He stuck his head out and made another comment,” Phidd testified.

Phidd then said he complained to the security guard a second time before bringing the customers’ attention to the incident.

“Everyone could hear me. I said, ‘this is not good customer service’,” Phidd told the court.

Despite his protests, Hanniford still came into the customer service area and made another advance at one of the women. At this point the disgusted women left the restaurant and went into a parked vehicle, Phidd said.

“I asked him why he was behaving like that and he said I mustn’t talk to him, I must talk to the manager,” Phidd said.

At that point, Phidd testified that a supervisor approached him and began apologising for Hanniford’s behaviour. The complainant then told the court that he went into the customers’ bathroom to wash his hands when he was confronted by Hanniford who began pushing him.

“I overpowered him and pushed him out of the bathroom,” he said.

Defence attorney Tom Tavares-Finson had few questions for Phidd during his cross-examination.

“Are you a weightlifter?” Tavares-Finson asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“How much do you weigh?” the attorney asked.

“Two hundred and twenty-four pounds.”

At that point the attorney asked his client to stand up.

“Would you agree that he has a small frame?”

“Yes sir,” Phidd replied.

“I put it to you that you trashed him in that bathroom,” Tavares-Finson said.

“No, sir. I held him and pushed him out.”

Hanniford will remain behind bars until next Tuesday when another witness will be subpoenaed to give testimony.

walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com