KINGSTON, Jamaica — A security guard who maintained that he never assaulted a resident at the complex where he worked has been acquitted of charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious destruction of property.

Lee Clarke was found not guilty on all counts in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday, September 29, following a trial which spanned several days before Judge Cadeen Barnett Plunkett.

Clarke was employed as a security guard at a residential complex off Constant Spring Road in St Andrew when the incident which led to the charges allegedly occurred.

The prosecution alleged that during an encounter at the complex, Clarke assaulted the resident by punching and choking him, causing bodily injury. It was further alleged that a black Movado watch belonging to the resident was damaged during the confrontation.

Clarke denied the allegations and maintained throughout the proceedings that he had never assaulted the complainant.

The prosecution called several witnesses during the trial and relied on evidence concerning the alleged confrontation, the injuries said to have been sustained, the subsequent report to the police and the alleged damage to the watch.

However, the defence, led by attorneys-at-law Rodain Richardson and Janice Gordon, mounted a sustained challenge to the prosecution’s case, contending that it was riddled with material and, ultimately, fatal inconsistencies which undermined the reliability of the allegations against Clarke.

A significant feature of the defence case surrounded the medical evidence presented in support of the alleged assault.

The defence highlighted discrepancies between the nature and severity of the assault described by the complainant and the injuries documented in the medical evidence.

In particular, questions were raised as to whether the medical findings were consistent with the account of the physical attack alleged to have taken place. The defence argued that the medical evidence did not provide the degree of corroboration that would reasonably have been expected from the nature of the assault described to the court.

The complainant’s account of the incident was also subjected to extensive cross-examination over several days, with Richardson and Gordon highlighting inconsistencies and discrepancies concerning the sequence of events, the alleged assault, the circumstances in which the watch was said to have been damaged, and what occurred immediately following the encounter.

The defence further scrutinised the evidence concerning the reporting of the incident to the police and the observations of other witnesses, arguing that when the prosecution’s evidence was considered as a whole, there remained significant gaps and inconsistencies which could not safely support convictions.

At the conclusion of the evidence and submissions, Barnett Plunkett returned verdicts of not guilty on both charges, bringing the criminal proceedings against Clarke to an end.

Speaking following his acquittal, an emotional Clarke said security guards are often judged before their side of an encounter is properly heard.

“People are always quick to put down security guards and say that we act too much, but sometimes nobody wants to listen to our side. From the beginning I said I never touched this man. My lawyers fought for me, they stood by me, and today I am free. I am just thankful that this is finally over,” Clarke said.

Clarke was represented throughout the proceedings by Rodain Richardson and Janice Gordon of Richardson Law Chambers.