UWI dorm diary missing; Matthew Hyde returns to court on November 8

Records of people who entered and left George Alleyne Hall at the University of the West Indies in Mona between Monday, February 6 and Thursday, February 9 – have been requested by the legal team representing Matthew Hyde, who pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex… girlfriend in his room in the dormitory in 2023 – she cannot be found.

Prosecutors released the information Friday at the start of a sentence for Hyde, who pleaded guilty in September this year to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, malicious communication and false imprisonment.

Prosecutors said Friday that all but those records are in Hyde’s file, which includes a completed community investigation report, a prior events report and a psychiatric evaluation report.

Hyde, through his lawyer Patrick Peterkin, requested records from the University of the West Indies of logging in and out of the auditorium between February 6 and 9, the date the ex-girlfriend was reportedly held captive by the youth.

“According to my instructions, checks were carried out, but they were not found, so it will not be possible,” the prosecutor said on Friday when the case was called.

Hyde’s attorney, in a brief address to the court, said the defense would not call any other witnesses on Hyde’s behalf before sentencing.

However, the case was adjourned to November 8 by Supreme Court Justice Leighton Pusey because the sitting judge, Carolyn Tie-Powell, was unwell and unable to preside over the trial.

Hyde allegedly held his ex-girlfriend against her will in his apartment building room for at least three days, during which he repeatedly beat her and burned her entire body with a clothes iron.

She was then saved when she managed to communicate her distress through the device. A police report was filed and Hyde was arrested and charged. Following a preliminary hearing in June 2023 at the Half-Way-Tree Parish Court, the case was transferred to the District Court in downtown Kingston.