“I would rather go to prison,” a Kingston janitor angrily proclaimed in court after she was told that she will have to fork out almost $400,000 to fix her neighbour’s teeth.

Kenesha Ennis was left with an expensive dental bill for $386,000 after she threw a pot cover at the complainant which knocked out a tooth and broke two others.

The complainant and the accused subsequently both went to the Dispute Resolution Centre where the matter was mediated and an agreement was reached for Ennis to pay for the dental bill.

But on June 5 when a fuming Ennis appeared in court, she indicated that she was not prepared to pay the money and would rather face prison time.

Parish Judge Maxine Ellis told her lawyer, C J Mitchel,sssss “You need to talk to her. You see the way she a bubble up and a wrinch up and a shake?”

The judge, however, told Ennis: “Nobody is trying to take money from you. This is a cheap implant .”

“You can negotiate with the dentist, but what is not on is that she will live without her smile,” Ellis said.

At the same time, the judge warned that she will not be making any order for the complainant to get dentures.

“That is not for this young, beautiful woman,” she said.

In the meantime, the judge issued a warning to individuals who engage in physical disputes to come prepared to pay for the injuries and damage.

“When persons act and damage people it is going to cost you,” Ellis advised.

“Teeth are expensive, eyes are expensive, and when antbody damage them they are not going to come back so when you lick out a man teeth, you betta come with your money to put them back in.”

Ennis was instructed to return to court on June 14 with the first portion of the bill — $70,000 — which is to start the dental procedure.

The complainant was injured after she confronted Ennis about an alleged assault on her daughter during a dispute over the use of a standpipe at their home.