After going viral on Facebook in a showdown with Police ranks, Robb Street businesswoman Maie Hyatae-Kim was on Wednesday arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on a host of assault charges following a fracas last Friday.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Anne McLennan, she denied that she unlawfully assaulted Shadee Puran at Robb Street and Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown on December 29, 2017.
The 48-year-old Chinese national, who resides in Newtown, Georgetown, also pleaded not guilty when the Chief Magistrate read the charge implicating her for assaulting and also resisting Policewoman Natalie Gibson at the same location. Kim was handed another charge that she behaved disorderly, but to this, she also pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution objected to bail on grounds that the defendant was a flight risk as she was not Guyanese, but Kim’s lawyer, Bernard Da Silva quickly pointed out that his client was married to a Guyanese and was a mother of one. In appealing for reasonable bail, he observed that on the day in question, Kim was defending her property which the defence alleged was damaged by Shadee Puran.
The Chief Magistrate released the woman on $20,000 bail and assigned the matter to Court Six for continuation.
In the last few days, Kim was seen in a video on social media, standing in front of a minibus seemingly blocking it from proceeding. Police ranks – both male and female – were seen attempting to arrest the woman who apparently was putting up resistance. In the presence of a gathering of vocal onlookers, Kim was forcibly placed in a nearby Police outpost after ranks fetched her inside.
