UPDATE: Homeless man to be tried for assault in December
This was disclosed yesterday, October 30, 2013 when the defendant appeared at the Magistrate’s Court.
Hanley pleaded not guilty to common assault on June 11, 2013 following the incident which allegedly occurred on March 25, 2013 near Bobby’s Supermarket in Road Town.
Hanley told the court during his appearance that his court documents had been thrown away along with his clothes during his imprisonment and asked that the documents be re-disclosed to him. He did not tell the court who had removed the items.
The defendant, who remains unrepresented in the matter, reportedly has a history of mental illness.
Prior to his incarceration, Hanley told the court that he was homeless and was living at the Festival Grounds.
The defendant was further remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) until his next court appearance.
See previous story posted June 11, 2013:
UPDATE: Homeless man pleads not guilty to assault
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Sonnel Hanley, 31, appeared before the Magistrate’s Court today, June 11, 2013 on an open warrant to answer to the charge of common assault.
Hanley was asked several questions about his state of awareness of the proceedings and his personal circumstances before he was asked to offer a plea to the charge.
The defendant, who was unrepresented at the time, told the court that he visited the Mental Health Department on a monthly basis for his ‘shots’ and had been doing so for the past three years.
Hanley further told the court that he was thrown out of his home and currently lived at the Festival Grounds.
The accused then pleaded not guilty to assaulting Roseanne G. Richards on March 25, 2013.
The facts of the matter were not read to Hanley as the Crown was not in possession of the defendant’s file. It is expected that the facts would be read at his next appearance on June 14, 2013.
The defendant was remanded into police custody until his next appearance.
See previous story posted March 30, 2013:
Homeless man alleges attack was not ‘unprovoked’
- claims alleged assault victim hit him first; denies being crazy
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Sonnel G. Hanley, in an exclusive interview with Virgin Islands News Online, has expressed that the alleged assault incident that he has been charged in, was instigated by Rosayne Richards, the woman that he was first accused of slapping.
“I ain’t wilfully hit her, but I done apologise to one of the media them already,” Sonnel said at first during a recent interview with this news site.
Describing the incident in his own words, Hanley told this news site, “I went Bobby’s a morning [to] see if I get some money to buy something and I just flipped out just like that.”
When pressed to explain what he meant, Sonnel declared emphatically, “She hit me a slap first.”
He was asked several times if he was certain that this was an accurate description of what transpired and he stuck to his story.
“I watched her and I said, no man, I got to hit you back’,” Sonnel said.
Hanley claimed he had visited the woman at the Peebles hospital in an effort to apologise and stated that he would be making another visit on Easter Monday (to the hospital) in another effort at an apology.
There are no indications that Richards has been admitted to the hospital for injuries she received after allegedly being slapped at least twice across the face by Hanley in what was reported to be an unprovoked attack.
Hanley was arrested by Police following the incident, charged with the offence of common assault and released after remaining in custody for a short while. Acting Public Relations Officer of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), Sgt Carl Mason told this news site that the RVIPF could not detain the man beyond a 24-hr period.
Hanley said Police released him and told him to go by the Festival Grounds to “chill out”. He also stated that he was instructed to turn up at the Magistrate’s Court on April 24, 2013 after signing for his own release.
The man also claimed that persons were ‘100%’ wrong for saying that he was in the habit of hitting defenceless persons at random, “I don’t hit people like that,” he stated.
He did concede, however, that a previous stint at the Balsum Ghut prison was the result of an unprovoked attack on a tourist, “He didn’t want give me no money so I slap he,” Hanley said.
“I don’t go jail for free food,” he added before denying that he liked going to jail or was in the habit of using drugs. He also stated that he was not crazy but went once a month to receive treatment at ‘mental health’.
Hanley, who said he is now 32 years old, claimed that his mother had thrown him out of the house when he was 17 years old but did not offer a reason why he had been thrown out.
He also stated that he was genuinely homeless and slept at the Festival Grounds in Road Town or the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park at various times.
Responding to detractors who felt he should be working hard to earn his daily bread instead of begging, Hanley said it was a ‘mix up thing’ and noted that he wanted to become a banker but needed a place to stay.
He told this news site that he bought food, clothing and shoes with the money that he collected on a daily basis from 'hustling' at Bobby's. The man said that on some days he collect as much as $100. Hanley also does odd jobs such as washing cars, in addition to the begging that he does.
Hanley said he plans to offer a not guilty plea when he goes before the court since he did not wilfully commit the act of assault.
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56 Responses to “UPDATE: Homeless man to be tried for assault in December”
Did you say he lives at the festival grounds? Where does yellow live?
The NDP continue to believe that razzle and dazzle and public relations will bring them a second term!!
Calm yourself down!!!! This man is too absent-minded to realize he is now "a star". If he sees himself on the internet, he might trip then too, not understanding how in the world he got there, lol.
You are an As&^$#*@e! What does looks have to do with anything? There are plenty of cute a-s%^es around..YOU KNOW.
comments to real talk i think u need a damn job yourself from on the net talking $h1t
@Reality...they all have families who don't give a damn about them, just letting them muck up the neighborhood begging and smelling like fish..PHEW!