-video club proprietor charged with receiving stolen property
By Ayanna Blair
Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday ordered that a twenty-four-year-old man, who allegedly used a gun to rob another man of a quantity of household items valued over $16.2M, be remanded to prison while she placed the owner of Movie-Town Video Club on $200,000 bail for allegedly receiving one of the stolen items.
The 24-year-old labourer was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge of robbery under arms, while the video club proprietor pleaded not guilty to the charge of receiving stolen property, when they appeared at the Georgetown Magis-trate’s Court.
The facts of the case are that on September 30, at Lamaha Street, Vickram Persaud of D’Abreu Street, Kitty, used a gun to rob Rondel Albert of a Yamaha motorcycle, two platinum diamond chains, a silver ring, a DVD player, a projector, two laptop computers, an iPod, a platinum television set, a quantity of clothes, sneakers and cash among several other times, all totalling over $16.2M.
Meanwhile, on October 16 at Alexander Street, Rabi Singh, 28, of 236 South Road, allegedly received a projector valued over $1.1M belonging to Albert from Persaud, knowing same to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained.
Attorney-at-law Paul Fung-A-Fat, who represented Albert, told the court that all of the articles that were stolen have been recovered. He then requested that the articles be returned to his client since he was scheduled to travel to England on October 26.
However, Persaud’s lawyer, Adrian Thompson, told the court that his client had no linkages to the incidents. He said that judging from the amount of items reportedly stolen it would have taken a number of persons to carry them away.
He requested that his client be admitted to reasonable bail stating that all of the items had been recovered. He said that his client should not have to languish in prison until Albert returns to Guyana to proceed with the case.
The lawyer also noted that his client posed no risk of flight and that no Identification Parade was ever conducted for his client to be pointed out by Albert for the offence.
Meanwhile, Singh’s lawyer, Ronald Burch-Smith, stated that his client is a well-known and respected person in his community. He said that his client had never been charged before and had never been suspected of any criminal offence.
He went on say that the police contacted his client last Sunday and told him of the allegation. He said that his client voluntarily turned himself in at the Brickdam Police Station.
Burch-Smith noted that his client also operates an electrical appliance repair shop at the video club and the only connection that he has with the case is that a friend of his client had brought the projector to the repair shop to undergo some repairs.
The lawyer said that his client did not purchase or steal the projector and police only found it at the shop because it was left there for repairs.
The magistrate subsequently ordered that Singh and Persaud return to court on October 28.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Krishnadat Ramana told the court that the items were all recovered and are lodged at the Brickdam Police Station. He said that after Persaud was arrested he took the police to several places where the items were recovered.
He also stated that Persaud was positively identified as one of the persons who had robbed Albert of the articles.
The prosecutor stated that on the day in question Albert and his girlfriend were going into his Lamaha Street home, when they were attacked by Persaud and another man who threatened them with a gun.
Ramana stated that Albert was forced into his home by the two men who then tied him up and relieved him of the articles mentioned in the charge.
He objected to Persaud’s bail application on the grounds that the offence was one of a serious nature and if released he might not return to court.
The prosecutor also said that advice is to be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions in the matters.
