Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton yesterday remanded two men to prison for a gunpoint robbery.
The duo entered not guilty pleas to the charge of robbery underarms when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It is alleged that on November 23, Dwayne Simons, 25, of Lot 19 Public Road Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara and Leon James, 19, called “Whistle,” of 1977 Festival City, allegedly used a gun to rob Lennox Taylor of a Taurus pistol, nine .32 live rounds of ammunition, a gold band, a cell phone and a quantity of cash, totalling over $313,000.
Lawyer for the two men, Adrian Thompson, in his bid to secure bail, stated that “the identification of James is an issue in this matter” and that as such Taylor does not wish to pursue the matter.
However, Prosecutor Shellon Daniels objected to the bail application on the grounds that a firearm was allegedly used to commit the offence. She strengthened her objections by stating that if Simons is released, the police may have difficulties locating him since he had told the police shortly after he was arrested that his home address is Lot 2448 Festival City. Thompson then stated that Simon’s mother lives in Mc Doom and that he sometimes stays there.
Daniels said that according to Taylor, there is no issue with identifying his attackers since he had positively identified James in an ID parade. She further stated that Taylor had even given the police a written and signed statement to corroborate this. The magistrate then refused the men’s bail application and ordered that they appear back in court on March 31 next year for the commencement of their trial.
