Pay clerk set for sentencing next week after acid attack
Published:Friday | July 25, 2025 | 12:08 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A 43-year-old pay clerk who left a woman blind in one eye and injured two others in a vicious acid attack on a public bus is now set to be sentenced on July 30 in the Home Circuit Court.
Nicolene Gray, who pleaded guilty in April to three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, has been in custody since the incident, which unfolded nearly three years ago in St Andrew. The attack, said to have stemmed from a love triangle, left the main victim, 46-year-old Nadine Beckford, with third-degree burns and permanent disfigurement.
The assault occurred on October 1, 2021, aboard a Coaster bus en route to Half-Way Tree. As Beckford rose to exit, Gray doused her with a caustic liquid from a ketchup bottle. The corrosive substance also splashed onto a female passenger and the male driver, who both sustained injuries.
Constant struggle
Beckford, who now lives in Portmore, St Catherine, described her life since the attack as a constant struggle. Blinded in one eye and barely seeing from the other, she said the trauma has left her withdrawn and battling depression.
“Mi mash right up,” she told The Gleaner in a recent interview. “Mi life change completely. Mi used to be out and about. Mi used to work, build mi house. Now, mi nah celebrate even birthday.”
Despite her pain, Beckford has publicly forgiven her attacker.
“I already forgive her,” she said, citing empathy for Gray’s young daughter. “If a mi alone, she coulda gone long ‘bout her business. I will forgive, but mi nuh forget.”
Still, she hopes compensation might help cover mounting medical expenses. Beckford revealed that he once had to sell her furniture to buy medication. She now hopes to open a small business or find work caring for the elderly.
Justice Leighton Pusey, who is presiding over the matter, previously ordered a social inquiry report and requested Gray’s criminal records. He also urged defence attorneys John Clarke and Sasheeka Richards to finalise any possible compensation for the victims.
“Compensation is a factor and not a replacement for sentencing,” Justice Pusey warned during the last court session. “It doesn’t mean that the court will not sentence you.”
Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson and Crown Counsel Debra Bryan are representing the Crown.
Authorities had recovered the plastic ketchup bottle used in the attack at the scene. Gray was arrested the same day and charged. The sentencing hearing is set for next Wednesday.