PHILIPSBURG--A 39-year-old woman was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and monetary compensation for the victim, as the Judge in the Court of First Instance found it legally and convincingly proven she had stabbed a visitor at Lotus nightclub in his chest on April 14.

 

  Myriam Dorofils, a resident of French St. Martin, was sentenced on Wednesday, according to the Prosecutor’s demand during the June 12 hearing. She was also ordered to compensate the victim for damages incurred in connection with the stabbing. The Court set the amount at NAf. 11,283, including the costs for medical treatment, consultations with an attorney and a damaged mobile phone.

 

  The Prosecutor and the Judge found the defendant guilty of attempted manslaughter, as the victim was stabbed in his chest with a kitchen knife. In addition to this weapon, the woman was armed with no fewer than four other kitchen knives, a pocketknife and a pair of scissors when she was arrested during a night out at the Simpson Bay establishment. Therefore, the woman was also sentenced for violation of the Weapon Ordinance.

 

  Video-camera images revealed that the suspect had become involved in an altercation on the dancefloor with two homosexual men who were dancing close to her. This apparently was not to her liking and she pushed one of the men, who then punched her in the face.

 

  A fight with both men ensued, which was stopped by security guards. While the two guards held one of the men down on the floor in a stranglehold the woman stabbed the man in his chest.

 

  As the Prosecutor had stated during the hearing, the suspect went to the club armed to the teeth, kept the victim in sight for a while, attacked him for no apparent reason and stabbed him in the chest after the fight had already ended.

 

  In addition, the Court noted that there was no evidence of provocative or “boundary-crossing” behaviour on the part of the victim.

 

  The defendant had stated she had acted in self-defence, but the Court dismissed these pleadings, as well as pleadings of psychological “force majeure”, and found the woman fully accountable for her acts.

 

  In sentencing, the Court took into account that the defendant has a French criminal record. The Court also included the defendant’s repeated “homophobic statements” at the hearing in its judgment on the punishment, as well as the fact that she had gone to a nightclub armed with several knives, which made the Judge fear that she might fall into repetition.

 

The Daily Herald