Christopher Thomas, STAR Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:

A St James man accused of stabbing his grandfather's girlfriend in the neck was given $100,000 bail in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Renaldo Christie, 23, from Glendevon, is charged with unlawful wounding, committed against Brenda Smith. He is booked to return to court on September 18.

The court was told that on July 19, about 10:30 a.m., Smith was at home with Christie's grandfather, with whom she is in a relationship, when Christie and another man entered the house armed with a ratchet knife and a machete. Christie, the court heard, stabbed Smith in the back of the neck, while the other man chopped her all over her body.

Smith was rushed to the hospital, and Christie was later arrested following investigations.

"Does the Crown have information as to a motive for the attack?" Resident Magistrate Vivienne Harris asked clerk of the court Orrett Brown.

"No, Your Honour, also, I understand that the medical will be ready in another three weeks," Brown replied.

In making a bail application, Christie's lawyer, Kenneth McLeod, said his client had no previous convictions and could relocate.

"He has never had any discussions with the complainant (Smith) before. He can live with his father in Norwood Gardens," said McLeod.

Harris subsequently granted bail on condition that he report to the Montego Hills Police Station every Monday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

"You are not to be seen in the Glendevon area, and you are not to go to your grandfather's house at all, and have no contact with the complainant," Harris warned Christie sternly before setting the mention date.