The Tribune

A 30-year-old man was charged in Magistrate’s Court after he threatened to kill two women during a verbal altercation at a gas station last week.

Thorne Bootle appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with threatening Samantha Bethel and Tanya Roberts with death on June 2. Bootle was also charged with damaging Ms Bethel’s 2017 Hyundai the same day.

He pleaded guilty to all three of the charges and was fined $1,000 for count one and two or six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Bootle was also ordered to compensate Ms Bethel $126.60 for her slashed tyres.

Prosecutor Samatha Miah said on the day of the incident, Ms Bethel told officers that she was at a Shell Gas Station in Prince Charles when she got into a verbal altercation with the defendant over a gas pump. She said when she went into the gas station to purchase an item, another person came into the store to tell her that Bootle had slashed her tyres.

Sgt Miah said Ms Bethel told officers that when she went outside to investigate, she saw Bootle walking away from her vehicle. She claims Bootle then turned to her and her friend and told them he would shoot up their car and kill them. Acting on this information, police arrested Bootle. During an interview with police at a nearby station, he admitted to slashing the complainant’s tyres, but denied threatening her and her friend.

During the hearing, Bootle was represented by attorney Ian Cargill. He told the magistrate that the incident had occurred because Bootle was waiting in line for gas and Ms Bethel skipped him by pulling her car up to the pump from the other direction. Mr Cargill said his client asked the complainant to move, but she told him no and left her vehicle to go into the store. Mr Cargill said that’s when Bootle got angry and slashed her tyres. He insisted his client was remorseful and asked the magistrate to refrain from imposing a custodial sentence.

In response, Magistrate Fergsuon-Pratt told the defendant that he did not have the right to take it upon himself to slash another person’s tyres, because that was not the behaviour of a mature person. She also told him that he needed to learn how to control his temper and exercise discipline.