woman.

Julius Carmen Caines, 32, of Scenic Heights, Southampton was found guilty of stalking a woman and guilty of assaulting her on December 2.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner arranged a speedy trial for Caines after he proclaimed his innocence in Monday morning's plea court session, saying he was ready to go to trial.

The charges against Caines stem from an incident on November 30 when the complainant was walking home at about 2 a.m. past the Tennis Stadium on St.

John's Road.

She said a man wearing a hat and a hood walking towards her stopped and began talking to her.

The woman recognised the man as Caines and said she had a short conversation with him before walking on. But when she looked back, he was following her.

The woman claimed she was afraid and stayed where she was as she was under a street light. She thought about calling the Police but could not find a quarter. Instead she flagged down a passing car and made her escape.

The woman saw Caines again on December 2 outside the Social Club on Angle Street.

She said she was sitting outside talking with some other people when Caines suddenly appeared.

She said Caines approached her and accused her of telling Police that he had troubled her and they had in turn harassed him. He then picked up a bottle and said he would split her head and threatened to kill her.

The woman said she became frightened, got up and started walking away.

She said that Caines threatened to kill anyone else who wanted to get involved, and so she headed for the Police station.

Caines followed her, so she started to run, and was picked up on a bike at Hamilton Pharmacy by a friend who sped her the wrong way down Parliament Street to Hamilton Police station.

She made a complaint to Police and told them that he had followed her to the station.

Police went outside and found Caines coming down the road shouting obscenities and threatening to kill her. He was then arrested.

In court yesterday, under cross examination by defence lawyer Larry Mussenden, the complainant admitted that when she had tried to get away from Caines she had shouted that he was a rapist.

Mr. Mussenden proposed that Caines was making his own way to the Police station in order to make a complaint against the woman for making derogatory remarks against him.

The court also heard testimony from Sgt. Savoy who was about to go on duty when Caines appeared outside Hamilton Police station.

He confirmed that a woman arrived in an extremely distressed state and said that a man had threatened to kill her and chased her to the Police station.

Sgt. Savoy went outside but could not see anyone, but the woman came out and pointed to the western side of Parliament Street outside Magistrates' Court where he saw Caines.

He said Caines then came quickly down the road towards the station shouting: "I will kill you. You put the man on me and I have done nothing.'' Sgt. Savoy said Caines had his hand in his jacket pocket as if he was concealing a weapon, so he stopped and searched him, but found nothing.

He continued that Caines was invited into the Police station, but continued repeating the same words, threatening to kill the woman.

When in the Police station he was informed that he was under arrest for suspicion of stalking and intruding on the privacy of a woman.

In sentencing, the court heard that Caines had an extensive criminal record including assault with intent to rob, an assault on a prison officer and affray.

In mitigation, Mr. Mussenden said his client was incarcerated at the time of his brother's brutal murder -- an event from which he had never fully recovered, and that repeated calls from his family as well as himself for anger management counselling had gone unanswered.

Caines was then sentenced to nine months for stalking and three months for assault, to run concurrently.

Last night Mr. Mussenden questioned why a stalking charge had been brought against his client and said he may appeal the sentence.

"I'm surprised that the Crown would bring the Stalking Act into this,'' he said.

"The Stalking Act was not designed for this kind of case,'' he added. "This case was about a dispute between two people who had some contact in the past who had an argument. And he gets charged with stalking.

"The Act appears to be a type of legislation meant for one purpose but clearly it was used in a draconian manner for other purposes.

"For instance, if two people have a dispute about something and they both march off to the Police station then both could be charged with stalking.'' Mr. Mussenden added: "This case came about over something that took place over just five minutes. I'm considering appealing on that point alone. But I'll have to take instructions from my client.''