Flowers Bank primary school principal and pastor, Clifford White, 41, was fined $300 in the #3 Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, June 26, after he was found guilty of causing harm to his estranged wife, Venecia White, 35, by beating her in the head with a hammer.
Magistrate Roberto Ordonez, who imposed the fine, gave White, principal of St. Stephen’s Anglican Primary School and pastor of the church, until July 26 to pay and told him that if he defaults on payment, he will serve 3 months.
The incident occurred about 5:15 p.m. on January 14, 2007, in Flowers Bank. Mrs. White, who resides in Hattieville, testified that she and her husband had a misunderstanding when she went to his house to pick up their four children overstaying their time at his house.
She said White, who was repairing his home and had a hammer in his hand, objected to her taking the children, and referred to the man she was living with as “crazy.”
When she insisted on taking the children, White, she testified, hit her in the head with the hammer, knocking her unconscious to the floor, causing a swelling below her left eye.
Mrs. White was examined by a doctor at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, and he classified her injury as harm.
White gave sworn testimony. He claimed that it was an accident. According to him, his wife ran into the hammer and struck her head. But Magistrate Ordonez could not believe that the incident occurred accidentally, and he found White guilty.
The prosecution was represented by Sergeant Carol Tucker. White has another charge of harm, for which trial is pending in the # 4 Magistrate’s Court. In that incident, it is alleged that he slapped down one of his female students.