By PAVEL BAILEY
A MOTHER told a court that she had to have an emergency C-section the day after a woman allegedly tried to run her over with a car last year.
Alicia Ferguson, 24, is on trial in Magistrate’s Court for assault with a dangerous instrument in relation to an incident that occurred on March 20, 2021.
Around 10am that day, it is alleged Ferguson sped through Newbold Street in a black Passo and intentionally tried to hit Dominique Smith, who was eight months pregnant at the time.
Ms Smith had two witnesses present, as both her and her friends, Lorenzo Williams and a 17-year-old, were all working weeding the road at the time.
Ms Smith testified before Magistrate Kendra Kelly yesterday and recalled how she was frightened after having to jump out of the way of the car. She said after the incident she made an official report to the Grove Street Police Station. She later had to go to Princess Margaret Hospital where they found her baby was in distress, resulting in her having to deliver her baby through an emergency C-section on March 21.
Ferguson’s lawyer raised objection to Ms Smith identifying her client in court, but Ms Smith still told the prosecution that she recognised the accused both in court and during the incident as she had allegedly driven the car with her tinted windows partially down.
A record of the complainant receiving medical attention at PMH was presented in court which confirmed she was taken to the Maternity Ward for an emergency C-section and delivered a five-pound baby girl.
The child was placed in an incubator for 14 days due to being born premature.
During cross-examination of the witness, it was revealed that the two were feuding over a romantic partner. The father of Ferguson’s child had recently broken up with Ms Smith, which resulted in a series of altercations between them from March 17, 2021 culminating in the alleged attempt to run her over.
These included Ms Smith’s ex-boyfriend collecting his things from her apartment which resulted in her breaking the glass in his car’s mirrors then posting pictures of it on Facebook. This post had a series of verbal attacks against Ferguson in the comments that caused her to officially lodge a complaint against Ms Smith with police.
While Ms Smith confirmed she did make a Facebook post regarding the broken mirror she denied ever directly taunting Ferguson online saying it was only her sisters and friends that had harassed her online.
Ferguson’s lawyer suggested it was not possible for her client to speed down Newbold Street due to speed bumps. She argued that Ms Smith had concocted the story about almost being hit by a car out of revenge because her boyfriend left her to go back to Ferguson.
Ms Smith denied both claims saying the incident took place in a part of the road where the speed bumps were further down, adding both she and her friends gave official police statements on the incident on March 20 and again in November 2021.
While under oath, the 17-year-old witness agreed with Ms Smith’s story that Ferguson had tried to hit Ms Smith with her car on the day in question and that Ms Smith had to “bounce” out of the way. He said Ms Smith had been blacking out all day after the incident.
When Mr Williams took the stand, he identified the accused in court as the same “bright-skinned lady” who had almost hit Ms Smith with her car. He also identified her licence plate. When asked if he was certain it was Ferguson in the car and in court, he confirmed he said yes, adding, “she was always coming round looking for her boyfriend”.
The defendant’s lawyer objected to this identification. She asked Mr Williams if he had signed a police statement and if the black Passo was speeding down the road, to which he answered “yes”.
However, he could not confirm whether he saw the accused’s car swerve to hit Ms Smith.
Magistrate Kelly adjourned the case to February 4.
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