Chaguanas man freed of assault charge

A CHAGUANAS man was acquitted of an assault charge at the Port-of-Spain Fifth Criminal Court on Wednesday. Michael Maharaj, of Riverside Road, Lange Park, was before Madame Justice Joan Charles charged with assaulting Khemraj Sonny, occasioning actual bodily harm. Sonny, who was brought to court on a stretcher to give evidence, is paralysed from the chest down. The victim had alleged that he was beaten by Maharaj and three other men, who had accused him of stealing. In his defence, the acquitted man said Sonny had stolen from him on several occasions. When he later apprehended him, Sonny jumped out of the vehicle and landed on his back. Maharaj was represented by attorneys Desmond Allum SC and Ravi Rajcoomar, while State attorneys Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo and Nizam Khan prosecuted.