found not guilty of assaulting her ex-husband.

During the Magistrates' Court trial, Gina Spence, 34, of Middle Terrace, Pembroke denied assaulting Kevin Bean at his neighbour's residence on August 15, 1996.

Thirty-year-old Mr. Bean, of Happy Valley Road, Pembroke was the first to take the witness stand and claimed his former wife punched him repeatedly as he tried to prevent her from taking their young daughter from the home.

"Around 7.15 p.m. I was at my neighbour's house with my mother and daughter, Mychel,'' Mr. Bean explained.

"I arrived before Gina, long enough to warn everyone in the home that Gina was coming which meant potential trouble.

"When Gina came in and tried to pick Mychel up, I stood between them and she then punched me eight or nine times in the back and the back of my neck.

"She walked in the door calmly, but quickly turned into a full rage. She was shouting and screaming and punching.'' Mr. Bean added that one of women in the house broke up the scuffle and called Police.

But once on the witness stand Spence had an different story.

"I got to his neighbour's house first,'' she said. "I had gone to pick Mychel up from nursery, but they told me her father already had.

"I called the Police from the nursery .... I went to Hamilton Police Station and made a complaint and two officers escorted me and my sister to Kevin's residence.'' She added: "The Police said there was nothing they could really do as we were still (in 1996) legally married.

"I left him talking to the officers and went to the neighbour's house where I assumed he had taken Mychel.

"I went to get my daughter and as I was leaving, Kevin came and took her out of my arms.

"There was a struggle as we pulled her between us. He grabbed her and left. I just stood there for two minutes in shock. I don't know where they went.'' Spence denied hitting her ex-husband even though she was "upset, angry and mad'' at the time.

After hearing both sides of the story, Magistrate Arthur Hodgson found Spence not guilty due to a lack of evidence.

"These are two conflicting stories and I have no reason to accept either one of them,'' he said. "I find the defendant not guilty because I have not been persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that she is guilty.''