MAVADO guilty of assault & malicious destruction of property

David Brooks, better known as dancehall artist MAVADO, has been found guilty of “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” and “malicious destruction of property” in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.

Brooks pleaded "not guilty" to the charges relating to an incident on the Belmont main road district in July last year, but was found guilty by resident magistrate Wilson Smith and fined JMD$100,000 (£700).

According to the Jamaica Observer he was fined JMD$80,000 (or six months) on the assault charge and another JMD$20,000 (or six months) for malicious destruction of property. Both sentences are to run concurrently.

The Jamaica Gleaner reported that Smith told the deejay, while passing the sentence: "I hope today will be a turning point in your life, where you will think not once, not twice, but more times before acting,"

Brooks' attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas said that his client accepted the ruling and was remorseful for the events that led to him being arrested and charged.

"Having found him guilty, I'd like to urge upon you that the accused man has accepted the finding of the court and is willing to move on," he said.

Thomas added that Brooks made contact with the complainant on his own initiative to offer compensation and to make himself available to the police as he had nothing to hide.