Dr Raymoth Notice who resigned as Spanish Town mayor last year, following accusations of beating his wife, Verna, is suggesting that a slow- growing tumour in her brain triggered the ugly incident that cost him his political career.

Now Notice wants to set up a Brain Tumour Foundation to educate the nation about what he describes as a “medical monster that is largely unknown” to the populace.

“Brain tumours, I must admit, can be a most destructive force in any family,” Notice said in a letter to the Observer. “With such symptoms – at the extreme – necessary forceful restraining had to be applied before realising what was the cause of such drastic intermittent behavioural and personality changes,” he said, apparently to explain his own reaction to his wife.

“That I am guilty of, not beating, and this was in response to her aggressive and violent outburst. These changes continue even after surgery,” he said in the letter.

The letter also detailed several anecdotes of individuals whose irrational behaviour was subsequently linked to the presence of tumours in their brain.

Notice, who was arrested on five counts of assault on charges – which his wife subsequently dropped – said that it would have been useless to declare his innocence at the time as it would have simply opened the door for a political battering by his opponents and ‘some members of the public’.

He opted instead, he said, to resign and withdraw from political and social life in search of answers regarding his spouse’s alleged personality and demeanour changes.

“Seven months elapsed before I actually suspected a brain tumour as headaches became a prominent feature,” he said.

It was not immediately clear if Verna Notice had actually undergone surgery for a brain tumour, but in his letter, Notice thanked several members of the local clergy and medical community for supporting him in the wake of the incident which he said had occasioned his family much pain, mental trauma and embarrassment.

Last year June, Dr Notice was brought before the courts after being accused of repeatedly assaulting his wife during January, February and May of that year.

According to police report made by Mrs Notice at the Bog Walk Police Station on February 27, Notice allegedly assaulted her between January and February of that year. It was further alleged that the assaults continued into May and Mrs Notice once again made reports to the Bog Walk police on May 30.

She was sent to a doctor for medical attention and, after police investigation, five arrests warrants were drawn up for the former mayor.

On June 15, the police advised the mayor to attend the Bog Walk police station where the five warrants were executed, and he was immediately escorted in an unmarked police vehicle to the Linstead courthouse.

He was facing one count on a charge of unlawful wounding, two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and two counts of assault at common law.

In court, the charges were dropped against him on the request of his wife who, bearing her children in mind, told the court that she had no problems withdrawing the charges, provided that her husband sought counselling.

Acquiescing to Mrs Notice’s request, presiding magistrate, Simone Maddix, dropped the charges against Notice, but not without a stern reprimand.

“For the sake of your children, you need to behave more responsibly,” Maddix scolded Notice.

In his letter, Dr notice said: “Thanks to the following persons who stood by us during these crises: Rev W A Blair, Rev Dr Vivian Panton, Rev Harriot of the Webster Memorial Church, Dr Gwendolyn Thomas, Dr Trevor McCarty, Dr Yvonne Bailey, Dr Wendel Abel, friends of the Kiwanis Club of Spanish Town and some excellent professional police personnel of Bog Walk Police Station.

“Special thanks to consultant neurosurgeon, Dr Randolph Cheeks for his ‘gifted hands’. His team of doctors and nurses at the Kingston Public Hospital needs special commendations for their display of excellent patient care,” he said.

See tomorrow’s paper for the full text of Dr Notice’s letter.