–he and cohorts hospitalised after chopping spree

By Jeune Bailey-Van Keric
AFTER his left hand was severed at the wrist, eyewitnesses say, Ashton Simon fled the scene, leaving it behind, fluttering on the ground where it fell, silver ring still intact.The 42-year-old father of five, of Sheet Anchor, East Canje, was amongst three persons who went to ‘Mai Mai Dam’, a squatting area on the eastern fringes of the township of New Amsterdam, on Sunday afternoon ostensibly to settle an old score. According to eyewitnesses, Simon was the first to mount the stairs of the home of the Gildaries, the family with whom he and his two friends had a misunderstanding.

It was around 17:30hrs, they said, and Rohit Gildarie was seated on the front stairs having a meal, when Simon, along with Valas Mootee Boodie and Jason Wilson exited a motorcar driven by one André Lewis of Palmyra Village.

Ashton Simon

QUICK AS A FLASH
Reports are that it was Simon who pointed a gun at Rohit’s neck, when, quick as a flash, one of the latter’s siblings, who was armed with a cutlass, fired a chop, severing Simon’s left hand, which was in an upraised position in the vicinity of his neck. He also sustained other injuries about the body.

His two companions meanhile, who had accused the Gildharies of being police informers, were also dealt several chops during the melee, which saw curious neighbours and passersby flocking the scene to get a first-hand glimpse of the incident.

Wilson lost his left ear, and suffered lacerations to his back and chest, while Boodie, a fisherman, was chopped in the region of his right side rib.

All three men remain patients in the male surgical ward at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

NO BUSINESS
During a visit to their home late yesterday, Simon’s relatives were overheard quarreling, saying that he had no right to be in other people’s business.

“I keep talking to he, but he does not hear. He got five children, and one on the way. He keep following people and their nonsense. Now he lost he hand; dis boy nah ah hear,” said a woman who said she was his cousin.

Meanwhile, Boodie, aged 25, denied either of them having a gun in their possession. He however opted to remain silent when asked the reason for he and his friends being in the area.

Eyewitnesses said that after the cutlass attack, the men fled the scene, leaving behind a trail of blood and Simon’s wrist, which a plain-clothes detective subsequently took away.

A father and two sons have since been arrested, and are assisting police with their investigations .