Christopher Thomas, STAR Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A Flankers, Montego Bay, man who reportedly stabbed his cousin during a dispute over jet-ski fuel was offered bail in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Dwight Blake, a 43-year-old business operator, is charged with wounding with intent.

In making a bail application, Blake's lawyer Martyn Thomas asserted that his client has no previous criminal record.

Thomas conceded that Blake did stab the complainant, but added that the act was done in self-defence as the cousin was the aggressor.

"We do not deny that Blake stabbed the complainant, but he was defending himself and the complainant was stabbed with his own knife. At all times, it was the complainant who was the attacker," said Thomas.

Meanwhile, the prosecution admitted that the complainant's medical certificate was still outstanding.

Resident Magistrate Sheron Barnes offered Blake $250,000 bail with two sureties and ordered him to submit his fingerprints to the police. He is to reside in Falmouth, Trelawny, with relatives and report to the Falmouth Police Station every Monday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

"It goes without saying that you are to have no contact with the complainant, your cousin," RM Barnes warned Blake.

The matter will be mentioned again on May 10.

Allegations are that on April 18 at 7:15 a.m., the two men were White House, St James, when Blake accused his cousin of stealing petrol from one of his jet-ski bikes, which the complainant denied.

Blake left the scene, but returned shortly afterward with a kitchen knife, then chased and stabbed the complainant in the back, chest and left arm several times while saying: "Mi a go kill you." The cousin was rescued by nearby soldiers and taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital for treatment, while Blake was held and later taken into custody.