A woman and her daughter were ordered by the court to spend time together to build a bond following a bitter and violent encounter between the two that included the mother being stabbed.
Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell made the order after Cordelle Linton and her adult daughter Samantha Dreckett appeared before her on Friday in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
Linton was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and Dreckett with unlawful wounding following the recent brawl that left them both nursing injuries.
In an attempt to resolve the matter between the two, Burrell asked Linton in court, if she was interested in going to mediation. The response was “No”, on the basis that her daughter had stabbed her with a pair of scissors.
“You didn’t grow her good!” the judge shot back at Linton.
But the daughter denied stabbing her mother, and told the court that she has forgiven Linton and has moved on.
Questioned by Burrell about her love for her daughter, Linton said responded: “How mi fi love her and she no love me?”
In response, the judge said a mother is supposed to love her child irrespective of what the child does, even if that child went on a shooting spree at a school.
Dreckett, in responding to queries from Burrell, said she doesn’t believe her mother loves her.
“It’s a terrible thing to be a mother and don’t think that your child loves you,” Burrell said. “And it’s a terrible thing to be a child and don’t think that your mother loves you.”
Burrell asked Dreckett if she wanted to tell her mother that she loves her. As silence fell on the courtroom, with anticipation growing, Dreckett looked at her mother standing beside her in the prisoner’s dock and shook her head, reflecting the “No”.
“You probably take off (after) your mother,” Burrell said before telling the two that they need to go to Devon House and “eat ice-cream”, or Emancipation Park and “laugh at people” together.
The judge then ordered them to spend some quality time together, which could include going to church, Devon House and Emancipation Park.
Burrell said they need to report back to the court the three positive things they have done together, or she’ll lock them up so they spend time together in jail.
The women are to return to court on November 19.
“Ladies, I’m rooting for you, and I’m wishing you all the best,” said Burrell.
