By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 26-year-old woman who falsely accused her boyfriend of assaulting her yesterday avoided receiving a criminal record after she owned up to her mistake and took responsibility for her actions.
Police arrested Ashanti Charlton after she gave a false report to Police Constable 4384 Bethel on August 30, suggesting that an offence had been committed against her when it had not.
She pleaded guilty during her arraignment before Magistrate Shaka Serville.
The court was told that on August 29, Charlton went to the Nassau Street Police Station to report that her boyfriend assaulted her by slapping and biting her. After she filed her complaint, her partner was arrested. When he was questioned in police custody, he denied the offence. The prosecution said when a police inspector held a confrontation between Charlton and her boyfriend a few days later, she said her complaint was not true and admitted that her boyfriend never bit her or slapped her in her face. She was subsequently arrested and charged.
Yesterday, she told the magistrate she was remorseful for her actions and stated that she had already apologised to her boyfriend for what she had done.
“I was mad at the fact that he embarrassed me (and) I wanted to have him locked up, so he could’ve been embarrassed,” she said. “But it didn’t turn out like that (because) I was arrested and he was released.”
Yesterday, Charlton’s boyfriend was also present during the hearing. When he was given an opportunity to speak, he told the magistrate that he had accepted Chartlon’s apology because he believed it was “sincere”.
As a result, Magistrate Serville told the accused he felt that she had “done her best to atone for her mistake.”
He also said that he was “satisfied” that Charlton had apologised to her boyfriend as the young man had indicated that he was willing to “try and work out” his relationship with her. As a result, he dismissed her case and warned her “not to make such a poor choice” in the future.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.