Profiled gay man wounds former friend ...............

A St. Ann man who was labeled as homosexual by members of his community reportedly took out his anger on his former friend, chopping him twice, once in the face and on his arm. This business of gay on gay violence is a problematic one as it affects the very crisis communication used by the gay lobby in trying to convince John public that there is actually real homophobic violence.

He is Hogarth Moncrieff, a craft carver of Mount Zion, St. Ann. Moncrieff was charged following an incident on November 20, 2010 in which he reportedly chopped the complainant and former friend Brian Spencer, a mechanic of Llandovery Mountains, also in the parish. Moncrieff appeared before the St. Ann’s Bay RM court on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 to answer to the charge of unlawful wounding.

The incident is said to have occurred because Moncrieff was carrying feelings because his former friend has stopped dealing with him. Feelings were further heightened because persons in the community started to accuse Moncrieff of being a homosexual since he has being deported to Jamaica. “Him an him friend dem and other young youth a call mi fish” stated Moncrieff. Spencer appeared to have been the chosen person to be chopped because since Moncrieff’s return from the United States he told him that they cannot continue to drive around in his company’s motor vehicles. This according to Spencer has sparked the rift in their friendship. Moncrieff was said to have been heckled several times as well as he traversed his community  but maybe due to the masculine aesthetic he has not been violently approached as other victims of profiling would have faced due to the general perception that gay men are weak and are defenceless seeing they want to be women or playing the role thereof. 

The rift between the men became even wider when Spencer reportedly laughed at a pair of pants that Moncrieff was wearing. “Him enter the shop in a tight pants and the whole a the man dem in a the shop a laugh after him” sated Spencer. “Him start cuss mi an a seh mi nu come from Mt. Zion so whe mi a laugh su fa.”Spencer further told the court. It was also reported that Moncrieff attacked the complainant with stones after he left that shop.

On November 20, 2010, Spencer was coming from work when he was reportedly attacked by Moncrieff and chopped twice. Moncrieff escaped in a taxi. He was accosted on December 3,2010 after he reportedly saw Spencer and apologize to him and offered him $40,000 to not put the case in the hands of the law.

Moncrieff appeared to be one confused man when he was cross examined by the clerk of court. He gave two conflicting accounts of the incident. According to the police, Moncrieff first stated under caution that he was attacked by Spencer and friends but was able to take a machete from them and defend himself. Then he also stated in court that Spencer and a relative attacked him with a machete and stick but he was able to escape without being harmed and that the chops hurled at him by Spencer’s relative were the ones that wounded Spencer.

After his second statement he was asked about what he said to the police about defending himself. He stated that he did not hear the police and medical reports because his mind was far away when the police report was being read. He pleaded not guilty to the charges but was found guilty. He will reappear before the courts for sentencing on December 12, 2012. His bail has been extended until then.