Court

Court cites wider social fallout after beach assault on visitor

بقلم Barbados Today · 27 مايو 2026 · 5 دقيقة قراءة Barbados Today ↗

Six St Michael men plus three juveniles charged with serious bodily harm, two counts of robbery and violent disorder, have all been remanded over the May 17 incident at Savvy On The Bay.

The accused are Joshua Greg Belgrave, 21, of St Hill Road, Carrington Village; Addagio Marlon Bostic, 18, of Laynes Gap, Martindales Road; Leonardo Ricardo Allsopp, 26, of Grassfield Gap, Stevenson Road, Delamare Land; Chad Seon Codrington, 18, of Licorish Village, My Lords Hill; Donte Ricardo Sealy, 18, of Murrell Road, Carrington Village; and Seth Ethan Nathaniel, 23, of Blackmans Road, Carrington Village.

The six, along with three juveniles, appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Douglas Frederick in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning.

Two Sundays ago, an American visitor was attacked and brutally assaulted by a group of men at the Bay Street beach entertainment spot. The incident went viral on social media, and resulted in the tourist sustaining injuries about his body.

The accused men, many of them in their late teens and early twenties, were handed charges including two counts of robbery, serious bodily harm, and public disorder. The incident resulted in a tourist being hospitalised with fractures until his discharge on May 19.

During an intense, multi-lawyer bail application, defense attorneys fiercely pushed back against the prosecution’s attempts to keep the young men behind bars.

Defence attorneys raised several key arguments to secure bail, focusing heavily on their employment and the stability of the accused.

Attorney Rasheed Belgrave noted that his client, Leonardo Allsopp, is an air conditioning technician who has spent over a year working at high-profile sites, including Hotel Indigo.

Belgrave urged the court to note that this is not an unemployed individual, while other attorneys noted their respective clients worked as steel benders and maritime laminators.

Citing Section six of the Bail Act, the defence highlighted that regional judicial systems are plagued with delays, and depriving the young men of liberty for what could be an excess of six months while waiting for a file would cause irreversible personal and financial ruin.

The legal team also heavily emphasised the youth of the accused and the severe disruption to their education. One defendant is a 16-year-old fifth-form student from one of the island’s public schools who is set to miss his upcoming CXC examinations if kept on remand.

Another, Chad Codrington, was just one week into a crucial six-week paid job attachment from the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic. To allay the court’s fears, the defence proposed strict monitoring conditions, including dusk-to-dawn curfews, a total ban from entering Savvy on the Bay, the surrender of travel documents, and daily reporting to police stations.

The push for bail was denied by the acting chief magistrate. While acknowledging the defence’s stance that the bench cannot be swayed by public outcries, Frederick remained firm on his position on the gravity of the incident group dynamic and its wider societal fallout.

”This is a very difficult one for me, and the reason why it’s difficult is because of your ages — your tender ages, basically,” Chief Magistrate Frederick said. “But this is a serious matter. I don’t think anybody would disagree… It is serious because of the effect that it has on the society, and it’s serious because it’s not an allegation of one person against another person, but it’s an allegation of about nine people — nine young, strong men who have a lot of energy.”

Turning his attention directly to the arguments raised by Belgrave regarding employment, the chief magistrate pointed out a glaring irony regarding the tourist industry.

”Mr Belgrave said that his client is working at Indigo… How ironic is that? And at Apes Hill, how ironic is that? That’s where he’s working as a technician, for these businesses that are involved in the tourist industry,” Frederick observed. “This matter has serious repercussions and ripples through our society. It has affected the society in terms of persons now even maybe coming out to have recreation at certain spots.”

Expressing profound disappointment in the youths’ choices, Frederick concluded that their secondary education should have guided them better.

”I’m sorry that you gentlemen have found yourselves, your names all in a matter as serious as this… You have the benefit, I presume, of a secondary education and independent thought processes. And it seemed as though the allegation is that there was a herd instinct involved in this matter… This is very troubling and for your own personal safety, the protection of the society, and the outrage that must have been caused, you are remanded.”

The chief magistrate urged the prosecution to expedite the compilation of the accused men’s files given the complexity of the ongoing investigation. The nine were remanded to the Dodds until their next scheduled court appearance on June 23.