Woman claims Cornish said as he raped her ‘You want the monster, you got it’

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN cried and alleged in court that North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish raped her, spat on her and left her in fear for her life.

The 35-year-old woman’s testimony yesterday depicted Cornish as violent. 

She claimed she was with the defendant in his car off Arawak Cay in November 2022 when he put his hands on her and choked her after a conversation did not go his way. She claimed when the defendant released her, she coughed, vomited and tried to catch her breath.

She said she was sitting in a yard in Cornish’s vehicle in Cooper’s Town, Abaco, on January 20, 2023, when another conversation between the two turned sour.

She alleged that when she failed to say what Cornish wanted her to say in a phone conversation with a friend, Cornish flew into a rage and struck her in the eye with his fingers two or three times.

She claimed Cornish then choked her again, adding that when the attack stopped and Cornish dropped her home, he told her: “I should just shoot you.”

She said she took photos of herself after that alleged attack.

She said Cornish accompanied her when she saw an eye doctor in New Providence after the January 20 incident.

The complainant said on March 25, 2023, she accompanied the defendant to the swearing-in ceremony for a new commissioner and later went to an Airbnb with him in the Stapledon area.

She claimed the two were sitting on a couch in the living room when Cornish got angry over something she had said.

It was then, she claimed, that Cornish grabbed a knife and launched at her, putting the knife to her throat. She said she held her hands in a defensive position, pleading with him to stop.

She said she saw her life flash before her eyes. She said when the defendant released her, he began to rant throughout the room.

She said when she went to her bedroom, the defendant later came in.

She calmly told the court how the defendant allegedly took off her underwear and had sex with her against her will and spat in her face before she went to the bathroom.

Vashti Bridgewater and Basil Cumberthatch are the prosecutors.

When Mr Cumberthatch asked the complainant why she stayed with Cornish until their return flight to Abaco the following morning, she said she had nowhere else to go.

She said she didn’t go to the police until April 7, 2023 ––  after the second alleged sexual assault –– because the two were in a relationship and she did not want to embarrass him.

She said that on April 4, 2023, she was on a phone call with a foreign-based friend at her Cooper’s Town, Abaco, residence when Cornish tried to call her, but she ignored him.

She said she began to panic when she heard him knock on the door shortly after.

She said after letting Cornish inside, he locked the door behind him and started to talk while walking towards her as she backed away.

Through tears, she alleged that Cornish said: “Why are you stenching? If I wanted to do something to you I would have done it.”

After composing herself in court, she alleged Cornish forced her into her bedroom and pinned her to the bed as he took off her clothes.

She claimed that when she tried to resist him and keep her legs clamped, he threatened to break her legs before forcing himself inside her.

She said Cornish said: “This is what you want? You want the monster, you got it.”

She said Cornish cleaned himself up after the alleged rape. 

She said before he left her house, he allegedly told her: “This isn’t going to get any better, cheapest you just leave the island.”

She said after the assault, she called back the foreign-based friend to whom she was initially talking. 

She will continue her testimony today before Justice Renae McKay.

Cornish faces two counts of rape, two counts of assault and one count of threats of death. 

During her opening remarks, Ms Bridgewater told the nine-person jury they are the sole judge of facts. She encouraged them to make a just decision after hearing all of the evidence against the accused.

Tai Pinder-Mackey and Monique Murphy Grant represent Cornish.