Jimmy Riley is one of Jamaica’s hard-hitting reggae icons whose artistic excellence lives on in his son Tarrus. However the reggae star has a bit of a lesson to learn about keeping the heavyweight act for the studio and stage, rather than following up belligerence with physical violence.

Last week Riley appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court and faced the serious charge of hitting his wife. Sandra Bramwell-Riley was also present in the court, where she backed up her police report, given on January 4 at the Stony Hill Police Station.

In her report, Bramwell-Riley alleged that following an argument that developed while she traveled with her husband, he hit her hard in her face and later threatened her with a knife. Injured by the attack, Bramwell-Riley followed through with charging her husband and told the court that this was not the first time she has been abused in this manner by him.

Riley, whose real name is Martin Riley was also said to have hit his wife on other occasions. When Bramwell-Riley went to police on after a previous similar incident, she was told to go home and try working out the domestic dispute.

In Riley’s defence, his lawyer, Peter Champagnie offered the rebuttal that the alleged incident did not happen as reported by his wife. In his view, the matter should be referred to the Dispute Resolution Foundation or for counseling; not an option for Bramwell-Riley who no longer lives in the matrimonial home, she said.

Riley will return to court on January 30 and was ordered to be fingerprinted by Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown who extended his bail.

Bramwell-Riley told the court that Riley has been steadily pleading with her to drop the charges since she made the police report.