KINGSTON, Jamaica — A 33-year-old delivery service driver found himself on the wrong side of the law following an altercation with his 48-year-old partner, which ended in a physical assault.

The man, Kemar Gordon, who had never been before the court on prior charges, told Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell that on the day of the assault, things escalated quickly and his actions were the result of the “heat of the moment.”

“We had an argument, Your Honour. She provoke me and I was ignorant so in the heat of the moment I just take up a stone and fling it not intentionally in her way, but she was frightened and moved into the direction I was throwing it,” Gordon explained.

The judge, after further probing the matter, learnt that the couple had been together for six years and that there was a history of violence between them. She then asked if the couple were interested in mediation.

The woman, however, said she was uninterested and simply wanted her former lover to pay for an upcoming CT scan she would need as a result of the fracas.

The scan, the woman said, cost $30,000. However, Judge Burrell ordered the man to pay $50,000.

He was also ordered to undergo probation for 12 months with specific focus on anger management.

The judge then warned the man to think on his actions as there are people behind bars who, if they had learnt how to manage their anger, would not have been locked up.

“I think you need to learn how to say what you’re thinking before resorting to violence. Perhaps the probation service can assist you with making better decisions with what you described as the heat of the moment. There are a lot of men down GP [prison ] in Spanish Town…that are there because of the heat of the moment.”