Transport Board employee jailed four years for scissors attack on co-worker

Rockell Browne was sentenced to four years in prison after stabbing a female colleague three times with scissors at the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board in 2022.

Transport Board worker gets four-year sentence in scissors stabbing case

A workplace confrontation at the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board ended in a four-year prison sentence for employee Rockell Browne, antigua.news reports.

Justice John Spencer handed down the sentence following a judge-only trial in the High Court in July, in which Browne was found guilty of wounding. The incident took place in 2022 as the complainant was leaving work for the day.

According to evidence presented in court, the complainant had already clocked out and was entering a room to collect her bag when she and Browne crossed paths in the doorway. Browne shoved the woman hard enough to send her into a light switch, plunging the room into darkness. A physical altercation followed. When a third person stepped in to separate the two women, Browne seized a pair of scissors and stabbed the complainant three times.

Self-defence claim rejected

Browne maintained throughout that she had acted in self-defence, claiming both women had attacked her first and that the complainant was the one who habitually bumped into her at work. She also said she had previously raised concerns about the woman's behaviour with three supervisors. One of those supervisors, however, testified that no such complaint had ever been made to her.

Justice Spencer rejected the self-defence claim after reviewing the evidence, including video footage of the incident, which he said clearly showed Browne initiating the confrontation.

Mitigation and sentencing

Before sentencing, Browne apologised directly to the complainant in open court. Her attorney, Wendel Alexander, urged the judge to take into account his client's remorse, her personal circumstances — including the fact that she has children — and a probation report he described as strongly in Browne's favour.

Alexander also noted that the complainant's injuries did not require a prolonged hospital stay and that Browne had already faced professional consequences, having been suspended from her Transport Board position for two weeks following the incident. He asked the court to consider a compensation order.

The probation report described Browne as a respectable woman, normally peaceful and reserved. Justice Spencer acknowledged those findings but also noted the report's observation that Browne could be hot-headed. The judge further questioned the timing of her apology, pointing out that it came only after the matter had proceeded to trial.

Browne, who had worked at the Transport Board for 13 years and had recently been promoted, faced a maximum sentence of 15 years. Justice Spencer imposed four years, describing the term as significantly reduced in light of the mitigating factors. Browne was also ordered to undergo anger-management counselling.

The two women were not close, and the court heard there was no evidence of significant hostility between them prior to the incident, though the complainant described occasional minor friction, including instances in which Browne would brush against her shoulder.

Source: Google News AG — Crime