A labourer from South Trinidad will be sentenced in January by a High Court judge for maliciously wounding a man in 2006 and causing damage to his car with a brush cutter.

Allan Luke, 52, of Siparia, was convicted on November 8, by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas at a judge-only trial.

On Wednesday, Luke’s attorney Susan Charles-Sylvester pleaded for leniency for her client and also asked that he be granted bail until his sentencing on January 5.

Her request for bail was, however, denied by the judge who said he was not minded to do so.

Luke was convicted of using a brush cutter in an altercation with Rodney Robinson on August 30, 2016, at Coora Road, Siparia.

Robinson, just after 7 am, that morning, was driving his car along Coora Road, when he approached an area where Luke was using the brush cutter on the side of the road.

Robinson stopped his vehicle and there was an exchange between both men with Luke telling his victim, he was “doing the Government work” and that he did not care if a stone broke his windshield.

Luke threatened the man and later used the brush cutter to attack Robinson in his car, breaking the glass of the window.

In his defence, at his trial, Luke maintained he did not threaten Robinson or shove the brush cutter into the car. He also denied trying to hit Robinson with the tool but said the man provoked him.

His attorney said it was an impulsive action by a man who provoked his client. She attempted to say the incident would not have happened if the victim did not confront Luke. However, she was stopped by the judge who said he would not allow statements that suggested the victim was the cause of the incident.

Luke’s attorney said her client was not looking for a fight, but was working and got involved in a fracas and “did something stupid.’

She asked for the lower end of the sentencing scale to be applied to him, adding that at the time he was not deliberately in possession of a weapon.

He was also 36 when the incident took place, with no previous convictions and was now permanently employed with the Ministry of Culture. Up until his conviction, he also worked as a part-time taxi driver. He also works part-time as a law clerk with his sister and feeds the poor every Easter. He also assists his elderly brother.

She said when the incident occurred, he was a labourer with the Ministry of Works and has “proven to be a contributing member of society.”

“It was an irrational and spontaneous act that landed him before court… It is an aberration that I know he wishes he could take back.”

Prosecutor Indira Chinebas did not agree a non-custodial sentence would be appropriate, especially since Robinson needed 19 stitches for his injury and was left with a permanent scar. His son was also in the car at the time of the attack, she pointed out.

Chinebas said at 36, Luke should have had the maturity to know better.

St Clair-Douglas, who said he was only making some observations and