A 23-year-old ex-convict was remanded to prison when he appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with last Saturday’s robbery of a De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara family.

Dellon Lawrence called ‘Balgo’ of Lot 10 De Kinderen was not required to plead to three indictable charges of robbery under arms and was remanded to prison by Magistrate Nyasha Williams-Hatmin. It is alleged that on December 5 at De Kinderen, Lawrence, in the company with another and being armed with a dangerous weapon, that is to say a gun and a knife, robbed Veronica Rai of a laptop computer valued $200 000, eleven gold rings worth $220 000, four gold chains valued at $125 000, a digital camera worth $96 000, a portable CD/DVD player valued at $130 000, two cellular phones worth $95 000, a playstation #2 valued at $65 000, a microwave worth $40 000, a VCR valued at $20 000, and a DVD player worth $20 000 with a total value of $1 011 000, the property of Rai.

It is also alleged that at the same date and place, Lawrence robbed Deolall Rai of a cellular phone worth $40 000 and a similar charge reads that he also robbed Cham-man Rai of a cellular phone valued at $15 000 and $7800.

He was not required to plead to the charges. Police had said on Sunday that two bandits armed with a handgun and a knife had struck at the home of Rai at about 9:30 pm on Saturday. She and her two sons were home at the time. The police had stated that investigations revealed that Rai was in a hammock outside her home when the men entered the premises and held her up. They took her into the house and also held up the two sons and placed the victims to lie on the floor, the police said. The two men then ransacked the house and took away the items mentioned. During the incident Rai was struck about her head and body by one of the men with the butt of the handgun. She was treated at the Leonora Cottage Hospital and sent away.

Following investigations, Lawrence was arrested and charged. The court was told that the accused was convicted of a similar offence previously. The prosecutor objected to bail on that ground as well as stating that Lawrence might tamper with the witnesses. He added that there were other charges pending and the accused might not return to court.

Lawrence was remanded and will have to return to court on January 28.