THE CASE involving Matthew Hyde, the university student who reportedly held his girlfriend captive in his dorm room and tortured her with a hot clothes iron, has been transferred to the Home Circuit Court for mention on September 14 after a parish judge found that he has a case to answer.

Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague, after examining the committal bundle, which included the witness statements and three medical reports, concluded that a prima facie case has been made out against the accused, meaning that the evidence that was presented is sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted.

Consequently, the matter was scheduled for mention in the Home Circuit Court, which has jurisdiction to try the case.

During the committal hearing yesterday in the Kingston and St Andrew Resident Magistrate’s Court, the clerk of the court noted that while the initial medical report had stated that the complainant’s burn injuries are not likely to be permanent, a follow-up report said that doctors will have to wait and see how the injuries heal before making a determination on whether they will be permanent.

The court also heard that the injuries may have caused other medical conditions.

The court was also told that despite the medical opinion, Hyde was charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm based on the graphic nature of the injuries.

Attorney-at -law Sayeed Bernard, who held for his senior, King Counsel Peter Champagnie, while not challenging the reports, reminded the court that the doctor had indicated that the injuries were not permanent and that there was no concrete evidence to suggest that the burn injuries have caused other medical conditions.

Bernard, in the meantime, told the court that Hyde’s lawyer would not be sharing its defence at this time.

Hyde, 20, is also charged with malicious communication and false imprisonment.

The University of the West Indies student was charged after he reportedly held his ex-girlfriend captive for three days in his room at the George Alleyne Hall, during which she was allegedly tortured with a clothing iron and other implements.

She was discovered sometime after 10 p.m. on February 9.

It is alleged that Hyde injured the complainant following cheating accusations.