A Southampton man has been cleared of elder abuse charges — with Magistrates’ Court hearing that his case concerned “a deeply divided family” with “scores to settle among themselves”.Reviewing the varying accounts given by family members, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo remarked: “They pretty much all accused each other of lying, or of manipulating the complainant.”Mr Tokunbo acquitted the 34-year-old man of the April 1, 2011 allegations of damaging his father’s glasses, and of unlawfully assaulting the now 86-year-old man. Neither man can be named for legal reasons.The assault charge came in two alternating counts: as assault under the Criminal Code — and as assault under the Senior Abuse Register Act, 2008, which would have seen the accused man’s name added to an elder abuse registry if convicted.The two “definitely engaged in a heated argument” on the day in question, Mr Tokunbo concluded — and the defendant was “the most aggressive and loudest of the two”.The altercation between father and son, who shared a Southampton home, was heard by family members who lived nearby. The son admitted to cursing vehemently — language which his father testified was the worst he’d heard.However, he denied laying a hand on his father, who claimed he was gripped around the neck and thrown against a cabinet and a bookstand, injuring his back and shoulder, before the defendant’s older brother intervened and struggled with him.The defendant maintained that his father had jumped onto his back to break up the fight with his brother.During the trial, the court also heard the complainant had fallen down some stairs several days after the incident.Looking over the evidence, Mr Tokunbo noted that a police officer attended at the time of the alleged assault, and had spoken at the scene with the defendant’s father.“Questioned by the officer, he responded that he was OK,” Mr Tokunbo said.He added: “This is not to say there wasn’t some form of assault by the defendant — but I doubt to the extent testified by the complainant.”Evidence of the alleged attack had been given to a doctor and police officer had all come after the date the complainant had supposedly fallen down some steps.Unable to say for sure what had taken place, the magistrate noted that “had a man of his age and frailty been thrown as he says he was, I would have expected a more immediate complaint”.He expressed doubt as to the father’s claim that his glasses had been damaged by his son’s attack.With “so many matters we are unable to solve with certainty”, Mr Tokunbo said none of the none of charges met the required standards for conviction, and therefore acquitted the defendant on all three counts.The trial, which began in April, was one of the Island’s first cases before the courts under the Senior Abuse Register Act.