Two men accused in the armed robbery of a woman outside a city bank last week were yesterday charged.
It is alleged that on January 21, being armed with a gun, Collis Collison and Mark Vaughn robbed Irene Arjune of a handbag, two plane tickets to Trinidad, two bank cards and a quantity of cash, valuing $692,000 in total. Police had said last week that the gunman tried to return the stolen articles before both men were arrested.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charge of robbery under arms when it was read to them by acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Meanwhile, Collison is accused by the police of having in his possession six .32 rounds of ammunition without a licence on the same day. On the said day, he also allegedly had in his possession a .32 Taurus revolver without licence. Collison, 24, of 142 South Ruimveldt, denied the charges of unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition without licence.
In giving the facts of the case, Prosecutor Stephen Telford told the court that Arjune was going to her car when she was accosted by the defendants.
According to Telford, Collison whipped out the firearm and, along with Vaughn, demanded the items mentioned in the charge. Scared for her life, Arjune complied with the order given by the men, Telford said. The court heard that the men made good their escape but were later apprehended and charged by the police on patrol in the vicinity of Robb Street, where the alleged incident occurred.
On Friday, police said Arjune, of Good Hope, was robbed after leaving a city bank. “Investigations revealed that Irene Arjune withdrew the cash from a city bank after which she went to a motor car, when the suspect held her at gunpoint and took away a bag which contained the cash, plane tickets and documents.
“The suspect ran along Robb Street and into King Street where he was confronted by an alert police patrol. He then ran back and returned the bag with its contents to Irene Arjune and tried to escape, but was again confronted by the police patrol where he was arrested.”
Arjune was not present in court.
Telford made an application for the men to be remanded to prison, noting that the offence is serious and prevalent. He added too that if granted their pre-trial liberty, there is likelihood that they may want to interfere with witnesses.
Moreover, Telford related to the court that Vaughn had similar matters pending before the court and had violated his bail.
Attorney Adrian Thompson, who represented Vaughn, told the court that his client had been convicted of a similar offence and had been released from prison two years ago. Thompson emphasised that his client is innocent of the charge levelled against him.
The lawyer then made an application for his client to be admitted to reasonable bail.
After being told that Vaughn had pending matters before the court, themagistrate ordered the prosecution to ascertain the claim. Moments later, having checked the records, Telford reported to the court that the man had no pending matters.
Telford also told the court that it was Collison who had implicated Vaughn and that the police had no other evidence against Vaughn.
After listening to the case, Vaughn, a miner, 22, of 27 Dowding Street, Kitty, was granted bail in the sum of $50,000.
Meantime, Collison was remanded to prison as Telford said that there existed no special reason why he should be admitted to bail on the unlicensed possession of firearm and ammunition charges.
The matters were adjourned to February 7 for statements.
