“These guys they didn’t do anything…I am the guilty one,” a 19-year-old, who pleaded guilty to robbing two Saj Rice Group employees earlier this month, told Magistrate Haymant Ramdhani yesterday afternoon.
Ramnarine Ganga, 19, of 105 Graham Street, Rose Hall pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery under arms. He repeatedly told the court that his brother Krishandatt Ganga, 21, also of the same Graham Street address along with their friends Andre Stouger, 38, of 32 Princes Street, Georgetown and Dexter De Florimonte, 37, of 22 George Street, Georgetown were innocent.
Ramnarine Ganga and the other three were charged jointly with robbery under arms at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court. Initially, the charge was indictable and as a result the men were not required to plead. However, Police Prosecutor Lloyd Anthony Thomas made an application for the Administration of Justice Act (AJA) to be applied. Magistrate Ramdhani granted the prosecutor’s application and the charge was subsequently re-read to the men for them to plead.
When the charge was read to the men Ramnarine Ganga, without hesitation, pleaded guilty. Krishandatt Ganga, Stouger and De Florimonte pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
It is alleged that on August 19 the men, while being armed with a gun, robbed Lambert James and John Ali of more than half a million dollars in cash and other items belonging to the Saj Rice Group in Burma, Mahaicony. The men, according to the details of the charge, robbed James and Ali of $444, 372 in cash and two hand-held radio sets.
However, Ramnarine Ganga pleaded guilty and admitted to robbing James and Ali at gunpoint on August 19 of the items listed in the charge.
“I did this by myself and these men didn’t know anything about it,” Ramnarine repeatedly told the magistrate.
De Florimonte was the only one to be represented by an attorney. Tanya Warren told the court that her client was the father of four children, had a fixed place of abode, was not a flight risk and it was based on these factors that she made an application for bail.
However, the police prosecutor objected to bail being granted to the three accused. He submitted to the court that the crime which the men allegedly committed was both serious and prevalent.
All four of the men, Thomas further said, had other matters of a similar nature before a Berbice court as well.
Warren later contended that pre-trial liberty was not granted based on the seriousness and prevalence of an offence. She said that for bail to be refused the prosecution must prove that her client was a flight risk. This, she stressed, was not done.
Ramdhani subsequently refused bail. He cited the seriousness of the crime and explained to the attorney that a weapon was involved and because of the likelihood that De Florimonte (and the other three) were involved in other matters before the court, bail would be refused. Ramdhani further noted that the refusal of bail was not a punishment and his decision to remand the men should not be mistaken for an act of punishment.
Krishandatt Ganga, Stouger and De Florimonte were refused bail and next appear at the Mahaicony Magistrate’s Court on September 13. The matter is due for report then.
Meanwhile, Ramnarine Ganga will also appear at the same court on that date when he will be sentenced for the crime to which he admitted.
“Do you know what it feels like to have someone come in the dark and put a gun to your head?” Ramdhani questioned the man.
The magistrate went on to tell Ramnarine about the robbery at Hope, East Coast Demerara last Friday during which Lakeram Bishundial was shot and killed. The Bishundial family, the magistrate told Ramnarine, was preparing for a wedding that weekend but their celebration was turned into a funeral when gunmen attacked the man and his brother (the groom).
“Those men went there to rob and one of them shot and killed that man…that family has been plunged into grief…their wedding turned into a funeral…this is what people like you do to others and for you to stand there and say you are sorry…that is not enough,” Ramdhani told the defendant.
Shawn Anthony Thom has since been charged with Bishundial’s murder and appeared before the same magistrate yesterday afternoon.
Ramdhani further noted to the defendant that not because he (Ramnarine Ganga) told the court that the other three had nothing to do with the matter it meant they were innocent.
Krishandatt Ganga, Stouger and De Florimont, the magistrate explained to Ramnarine, will be put on trial and the evidence presented to the court will determine whether they are guilty or not guilty of the offence.
The police had said that armed bandits struck at SAJ Rice Mill last Thursday and after tying up the guards on duty escaped with a canister containing an undisclosed amount of cash.
Three men suspected to be the perpetrators were later caught in the getaway vehicle on George Street in the city.
“Acting promptly on the report, mobile police patrols in policing divisions were alerted and the motor vehicle was intercepted by an alert police patrol in George Street”, the release said.
