A man who punched his girlfriend several times in the face because he suspected that she was cheating on him was advised by the judge last week in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court that instead of abusing the woman he should have considered leaving the relationship.

“If you are with someone and you suspect that they are cheating, it’s probably time for your to move on,” Senior Parish Judge Andrea Pettigrew-Collins advised O’Neil Robinson when he appeared in court for sentencing last Wednesday.

The court heard that on February 19, around 11:45 am, the complainant was walking along Charles Street in downtown Kingston when she stopped to buy a drink at a shop.

Robinson, the court heard further, then approached the woman and told her: “ Yuh tek man fi p@#$y.”

The complainant then left the shop but on her way home noticed that she was being followed by Robinson.

When she arrived home, Robinson went inside the house and punched her several times in her face causing a wound to the side which bled, the court also heard.

The complainant reported the matter but Robinson, when cautioned, reportedly told the police: “Nothing like that, mi general.”

Attorney-at-Law Dianne Edwards, who assisted Robinson, told the court that she wanted to clarify some of the reports and explained that the couple have been together for two years and still lived together.

“So we should say that he went to his house,” the judge said jokingly.

In continuing, Edwards said Robinson had an altercation with the complainant, which became physical, after he saw her with someone else.

“I know it is serious and I am not going to water-down what he did to her, but there was no wound that bled, there was a black and blue area,” Edwards further said.

But the prosecutor told the court that the police had seen the complainant’s wound.

Judge Pettigrew-Collins, in response, told the lawyer that she did not believe that both the complainant and the police were lying and told her that her client could either accept the unlawful wounding charge or he could plead not guilty and proceed to trial.

Edwards, after consulting with her client, indicated that he would accept the charge.

The judge, before bounding over Robinson in the sum of $10,000 to keep the peace for 12 months told him: “I am sure you now understand that you need to learn how to control yourself.”