KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) – A St Vincent court sentenced a 19-year-old to one year and four months in jail for assaulting his mother with a knife earlier this month.

Magistrate Kaywana Jacobs imposed the sentence on Ajauné Grant after he attacked his mother, Keneisha Grant on September 1. The attack was the latest in a series of violent outbursts by the teen, who in June 2023, reportedly beat his stepfather with a metal pipe. He is also accused of attacking his principal with brass knuckles approximately one year ago.

“Mr Grant, are you ok?” Magistrate Jacobs asked as she handed down the sentence, to which the accused responded “I listening you.”

“You didn’t even offer any apology and this is your mother you are talking about. So, Mr. Grant, I have to agree with the prosecutor that a custodial sentence is necessary in this case.”

The court heard that the accused, who is the only child of his mother, had asked her for money to buy food. He was reportedly instructed to go to a shop for the food with the instructions that the mother would pay. Instead, the teen reportedly asked the shop owner for money. His mother later confronted him about it when it is alleged that he got annoyed, took up a knife and went to her room.

His mother was reportedly cleaning, when the defendant approached her, grabbed her by the neck, began to choke her and put the knife to her neck. The mother wrestled with her son and managed to call for help. Neighbours reportedly heard her cries and went to assist.

Grant allegedly ran away and the matter was reported to police. He was subsequently arrested and charged.

“The records show it is not his first rodeo,” the prosecutor said, adding that the court had tried to have Grant go through counselling so he could be reformed. I agree that given his age he may be a good candidate for reform, his lengthy conviction record tells me that he is way past that, even at his age,” said Delando Charles, the prosecutor.