Alfred v Burgos

• Jurisdiction: Belize
• Court: Supreme Court (Belize)
• Judge: Barrington-Jones
• Judgment Date: 31 October 1980
• Docket Number: Action No. 215 of 1978
• Date: 31 October 1980

Supreme Court

Barrington-Jones, J.

Action No. 215 of 1978

Alfred

and

Burgos

Mr. W. P. Elrington, for the plaintiff.

Mr. Dean Lindo, for the defendant.

Tort - Personal injury — Plaintiff sustained gunshot injuries to the left eye and injury to the right hand in a club — Conflicting accounts of how he sustained the injuries — Claim for damages denied.

Barrington-Jones

1 It is common ground in this case that the plaintiff entered the defendant's premises known as the Nueva Ola Club in the Orange Walk District between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the night of the 10th September, 1978; and that he later emerged from those premises and made his way to the Orange Walk Hospital where he was admitted.

2 On the 11th September, the plaintiff was transferred to Belize City hospital with a history of gunshot injuries to the left eye and injury to the right hand. X-rays revealed that he had multiple pellets to the left side of the eyeball and frontal region of scalp, as well as compound fractures and laceration of the index and middle fingers of the right hand. It transpired that the left eye was required to be removed, but the surgeon managed to save the plaintiff's index finger but the middle finger was amputated. Three pellets were also removed from his scalp. The plaintiff recovered from his injuries having lost his left eye and middle finger of the right hand and now suffers from a partial loss of the functions of the left index finger. The plaintiff was in hospital from the 10th September, until the 18th October, 1978, when he was discharged.

3 As to what happened in the Nueva Ola Club to cause these frightful injuries there is much dispute. The plaintiff's version is that after ordering a plate of rice and beans the defendant said in Spanish words which the plaintiff understood to mean “I am going to kill this nigger”. The plaintiff said that there was another man at the bar when he went in and that later when the defendant took out his shotgun the defendant's wife came from the rear of the premises and urged him not to use it. The plaintiff said the defendant then shot him when he (the plaintiff) was in front of the bar with his hands in front of his face. He said that he fell to the ground and was then hauled into the yard, and later he got up and managed to make his way to the hospital where he was admitted.

4 The defendant's version is so very different that it might be thought to refer to a totally...