A 47-year old fisherman accused of stealing a quantity of cash, two passports and a driver’s licence belonging to two Chinese nationals was yesterday remanded to prison after appearing before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The allegation against Ulrick Defreitas who resides at 100 Leopold Street, Georgetown is that on October 5, 2010 at Georgetown, he stole US$10,000, $100,000, two Chinese passports and one driver’s licence, property of Lu-Yuzhoo and Chin Kui.
The items, with the exception of one of the passports, belong to Lu-Yuzhoo. The other travel document is the property of Chin Kui.
The man denied the simple larceny charge when it was read to him.
Police Corporal Venetta Pindar in presenting the prosecution’s facts said that the virtual complainants are Chinese nationals employed with the Skeldon Sugar Estate. On the day in question, she said the complainants left Corentyne and journeyed to Georgetown to transact business when the incident occurred.
The prosecution’s facts are that the complainants left a bag in a car in which the items mentioned in the charge were kept while they were in a business transaction when the accused came up and snatched the bag out of the vehicle.
According to the prosecutor, a surveillance camera mounted at the business premises where the men were conducting their transaction caught the defendant committing the act. Defreitas was later arrested and charged.
Attorney Tanya Warren who represented the defendant told the court that according to her instructions, her client has no knowledge of the charge for which he stands accused, neither does he know the virtual complainants.
In her request for Defreitas to be granted his pretrial liberty, Warren said that her client posed no risk of flight, has a fixed address and has been cooperating with police investigations.
The attorney did, however, acknowledge that Defreitas has other pending matters before the court. She explained that he has a pending simple larceny matter before Court Three and one at the Wales Magistrates’ Court where he has been arraigned on a charge of assaulting a police officer.
The prosecution had no objection to the accused being admitted to bail but requested that it be in a substantial sum to ensure he returns to stand trial.
After listening to the facts and particulars presented by both the defence and prosecution, the presiding magistrate informed Defreitas that he would be remanded to prison. In informing him that he would be denied his pre-trial liberty, Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry explained that her decision was based on the grounds that he has allegedly committed an offence of a similar nature which is still pending before the court.
While on bail for that alleged offence, the magistrate further explained that the accused is now before the court again for allegedly committing a similar offence.
The matter against the father of five was transferred to Court Three.
After being told that he would be remanded to prison, a visibly angry Defreitas who stood in the docks of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court repeatedly exclaimed that he was innocent and did not want to return to prison.
