Former national football striker, Walter 'The Pearl' Boyd, appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday to answer to charges laid against him seven years ago.

Boyd, 39, of a Kingston 3 address, is charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.

He was remanded and is to reappear in court on March 2.

Allegations are that on Saturday May 29, 2004, about 5 p.m., the accused approached Simone Hall, a woman known to him for many years, in an aggressive manner and then accused her of calling up his name. It is also alleged that Boyd picked up a piece of block and used it to hit Hall in her face causing swelling and a fracture to her eye socket.

When the matter was called up yesterday in court, upon seeing the accused, one court audience shouted 'Striker' then said "a di best forward dat Jamaica eva produce."

Resident Magistrate Lorna Shelly Williams made an enquiry into why the matter was just being brought before the courts. She was told that the police were unable to locate Boyd because he had moved out of the area after the incident.

The court also heard that since Boyd's arrest, Hall has been receiving death threats. The allegations are that a man who was with Boyd when he was picked up by the police confronted the complainant and said "Him cyan go prison, him nah go a prison, else yuh ago dead."