The inmate who attacked Leoda Bradshaw has been sentenced to more than a year behind bars after admitting to the assault in court. The detainee, Kilfer Gilchrist, appeared in the St Catherine Parish Court on Thursday when she made the admission. Gilchrist was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm for an incident inside a St Catherine police lock-up that involved Bradshaw being doused with bleach.
Following her admission, Acting Parish Court Judge Janelle Nelson-Gayle handed down a 15-month prison sentence. Reports about the incident say that the attack on Bradshaw occurred at the Bridgeport police lock-up in Portmore when fellow inmate Gilchrist poured substances on the night of October 31, 2025.
Prosecutors said the substance that Gilchrist threw was bleach and another unnamed substance. After the attack, Bradshaw was left with injuries and irritation to her eyes.
Authorities were alerted shortly after the incident, and Bradshaw was taken to the hospital for treatment. A medical report detailing the injuries she suffered was later submitted to the court as part of the case against Gilchrist.
During the hearing, Gilchrist admitted that she had thrown bleach mixed with another substance at Bradshaw. Defence attorney Abina Morris, representing Gilchrist, asked the court to consider her client’s remorse when determining the sentence. Morris explained that Gilchrist acted in anger but now regretted what had happened.
“Your Honour, on the day in question my client was angry, but she expresses remorse for her actions,” Morris told the court while requesting leniency.
However, the complainant’s attorney, Deborah Martin, presented a different perspective on the events leading up to the assault. Martin told the court that Gilchrist had been verbally harassing Bradshaw for some time before the physical attack occurred.
According to Martin, tensions escalated after Bradshaw decided to report the ongoing abuse while both women were being held at the facility. She said the assault followed shortly afterwards.
Despite the circumstances, Martin indicated that Bradshaw accepted Gilchrist’s decision to plead guilty and bring the matter to a close.
In delivering the sentence, Judge Nelson-Gayle emphasised the seriousness of the attack and said the circumstances demonstrated a troubling pattern of aggressive behaviour.
The judge told Gilchrist that her conduct suggested a strong tendency toward violence, making a custodial sentence necessary. Nelson-Gayle explained that Gilchrist benefited from a 50 per cent reduction in her sentence because she chose to plead guilty instead of taking the matter to trial.
Even with that reduction, the judge said the nature of the attack, including the preparation of the substance used against Bradshaw, showed deliberate and harmful intent. Gilchrist will now serve her sentence in custody following the ruling by the parish court.
Bradshaw is being led into a police lockup for serious criminal charges connected to two 2023 murders. Prosecutors have accused Bradshaw of being responsible for the killings of 10-month-old Sarayah Paulwell, who is the daughter of People’s National Party Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell, and her mother, Toshyna Patterson. Bradshaw also shares a child with the politician. Bradshaw is also facing accusations of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap in the same case.