A 19-year-old who along with another man allegedly beat and robbed a man of a quantity of raw gold at the Bartica Arcade was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magis-trate’s Court.
Richard John of Bartica was not required to plead to the indictable charge of robbery with violence. An arrest warrant was issued for his alleged accomplice Devon Jai-Singh. It is alleged that on July 22, they used personal violence to rob Fidel Spencer of one ounce of raw gold valued $200,000.
John, in his own defence, stated that on the day the offence was allegedly committed he had attended his sister’s birthday party.
He said he had left the party for just a few minutes to buy food from someone nearby when he was accused of the robbery.
He said he was not the person who robbed Spencer.
However, Prosecutor Stephen Telford stated that John and Jai-Singh were both known to Spencer.
He said Spencer was at the Bartica Arcade when John and Jai-Singh approached him and snatched his haversack in which he had placed the gold.
The prosecutor said one of them dealt Spencer a beating when he objected to what they were doing while the other stole the gold.
The prosecutor requested that John be remanded to prison and an arrest warrant be issued for Jai-Singh.
John is expected to make another court appearance on August 11.
