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Erlin Young gets one year for stabbing woman repeatedly

GeneralErlin Young gets one year for stabbing woman repeatedly
Erlin Young, 47, was convicted of grievous harm in the Magistrate’s Court today. The victim gave a tear-dropping testimony recounting the attack where she was strangled and stabbed repeatedly by Young, who refused to even deny the accusations.
  
The victim explained that she was stabbed all over her body by Young, and as a consequence, had to get stitches for each of the 9 stab wounds; up to-date she is still in fear.
  
The trial played out in the courtroom of Magistrate Dorothy Flowers; the victim again testified against the man who she had claimed stabbed her repeatedly after she had taken out a restraining order on him.
  
The woman, 36, a laborer of Belize City, was once Young’s common-law wife for about 15 years, and mother of his 16-year-old son.
  
As the victim took the stand in a sworn testimony and explained that the fear of death plagued her mind during the assault, the fear was evident on her face in court, as the tears kept flowing.
  
On May 18, 2010, around 9:00 a.m. the victim told the police that she was walking on Euphrates Avenue when she saw Young riding toward her on his bicycle; this was not supposed to be, as she had only recently taken out a restraining order on him.
  
“He dropped his bike and came towards me,” said the victim. At this point, she had taken out her cell phone and called 911.
  
According to her, Young had started strangling her immediately. “He said to me, ‘B%*@! I am going to kill you now’,” she said.
  
She said that she kept screaming for help. 
  
“Meanwhile, Young had a shiny object in his hands from out of his pocket, then he began inflicting stabs to me.
  
“I received [stabs]: twice in my breast, 2 on my chest, on the right hand the finger, the upper arm; one inside and one outside [of the arm] and one on the right upper back.
  
“I was in pain, my hands instantly start swelling, I couldn’t move it, I thought I was going be dead that moment,” she said.
  
At this point, the victim explained that apparently, there was a man who was standing a distance away, and she then saw 3 or 4 police vehicles rushing to her aid; during this time Young had stopped stabbing her and started to run away from the scene.
  
The woman, in an interview with Amandala, said that she had been enduring a battered past whilst living with Young, but that she is a survivor and not a victim.
  
Young was given the opportunity to refute the accusations by his victim, but declined to do so. He first stated that he wanted to give an un-sworn statement, but later decided only to concentrate on private issues the couple had been dealing with.
  
“I just want to get this over with,” Young said after Magistrate Flowers asked him if he wished to deny any of the accusations or defend himself.
  
Magistrate Flowers had then concluded that Young was indeed guilty of grievous harm and imposed a 1-year sentence at the Belize Central Prison Facility.
  
The victim, in tears and emotionally fragile, explained as she walked out of the courtroom that she had grown tired of his abuse, and had decided to leave him for good.
  
“Everybody always tell me how come I am so strong, but I don’t care, I will never class myself as a victim of abuse, I am a survivor,” she said.
  
The sentencing is to start from today’s date, and Young was transported to the prison facility this evening.

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