George Matthews convicted and fined for assault

A man found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend has been fined a thousand dollars. Justice Adolph Lucas today ordered twenty-six year old George Matthews to pay after a jury of five men and four women found him guilty on Tuesday by an eight to one majority. Matthews had originally been charged with Kidnapping but that charge was withdrawn and reduced to Common Assault. He had also been charged with Rape, Threat of Death and an Unnatural Crime but those were thrown out prior to the trial. The incident in question occurred on July sixth, 2005 when Matthews’ twenty-eight year old girlfriend said she had been forced into a taxi by Matthews in Ladyville and taken to his home in Belize City where the assault took place. Two character witnesses testified on Matthews’ behalf in his plea for mitigation. One of them was his sister, Mrs. Jean Baizar, who told the court that her brother has a psychological problem and that he was seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Lopez. The other character witness was Denise Lynch, a teacher at Queen Square Anglican Primary School. She said she has known Matthews for fifteen years and he is a quiet and helpful person. In addition to his fine Matthews was ordered to keep the peace for one year.