Woman rescued by garbage truck drivers
(CNS): A woman who has accused a local man of assaulting and robbing her was rescued from the ordeal by garbage truck drivers after she rushed into the path of the vehicle as she escaped the attack, the court heard Monday. Opening the case against Walter Jordon McLaughlin, who has pleaded not guilty to robbery, abduction, indecent and physical assault, prosecuting counsel Candia James told a jury that the defendant tried to force his victim to have sex, assaulted her and stole her bag, jewellery and phone as she refused his advances when he was meant to be taking her home.
The crown attorney said that the victim, who was from the Dominican Republic, knew the defendant from working in a bar in the industrial area. She said that on a few occasions prior to the attack he had given her a ride home. Although he had made a number of advances and had previously asked her out, the woman had always refused anything more than a ride in his car.
On the night in question, in March 2013, the victim had already refused a date with McLaughlin but ran into him later and, as she had no means of getting home, she asked him for a ride. He agreed, but as the two of them left the Nectar Lounge bar on the West Bay Road, heading to her house in the Rock Hole area, McLaughlin took a different route.
As the woman became aware he was not heading to her house, she insisted he go directly there. When he did not and began asking her for sex, she tried to grab the car wheel. A scuffle ensued in which he hit the women and took her phone when she tried to contact her friends. He eventually pulled over in a secluded area along Sparky Drive and repeated his requests for sex.
As she set out the details of the crown’s case against McLaughlin, James told the court that as he tried to make his victim comply, she fought him off and manged to get out of the car on several occasions but he caught her and dragged her back by her hair.
Although the woman became increasingly afraid and begged him not to hurt her, McLaughlin continued to make verbal and physical sexual advances as she persistently tried to escape. Already in possession of her phone, McLaughlin was also accused of taking the woman’s handbag and pulling a chain from around her neck during the sexually motivated attack.
Eventually the woman managed to scramble away again and on this occasion she ran into the path of a garbage truck. The men inside, who had just begun their early morning shift, picked up the woman and took her to her home. Shortly afterwards she reported the incident to the police and attended the hospital, where her injuries were documented.
McLaughlin was arrested soon after and he denied all of the allegations. He told police that he had already had consensual sex with the woman on several occasions and on that night they had gone to Sparky Drive together to have sex and smoke weed, as he said it was not uncommon for the couple to have sex in secluded spots. But that night, he said, they had both been drinking and were under the influence of drugs when they had an argument about something trivial. He said she had become agitated and angry and they had fought before she had stormed off.
The case continues in Grand Court One before a jury and is being presided over by Justice Michael Mettyear. McLaughlin is being defended by Guy Dilliway-Parry from Priestleys.
