A self-employed computer science lecturer who is accused of stealing clothing and haberdashery from the Chinese garment store which was destroyed by fire in Linden on Sunday was yesterday remanded to prison after appearing before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The allegation against Selwyn Lancaster is that on May 7 at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden, he stole a quantity of clothing and haberdashery valued $707,100 from the store of Zehye Liang.
The store was destroyed by fire on May 8.
The 24-year-old Lancaster of 131 Wisroc Housing Scheme was not required to plead to the simple larceny charge when it was read to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
In presenting the prosecution’s facts of the case, Police Corporal Venetta Pindar told the court that the accused and the complainant are known to each other as the defendant occasionally visited the now burnt store of Liang from which the items were stolen.
The corporal said that after the items were discovered missing by the virtual complainant (VC), a police report was made. During subsequent investigations by the lawmen, Pindar said that the accused took ranks to where he had taken the items.
She said that he was later told of the allegation that he had committed an offence to which he admitted and subsequently he was arrested and charged.
The prosecution objected to the accused being granted his pre-trial liberty and asked that the matter be transferred to the Christianburg Magistrates’ Court.
Attorney-at-law Gordon Guilhuys who represented the defendant argued, however, that the prosecution failed to present to the court the grounds on which it was objecting to bail being granted to his client.
It was at this time that Prosecutor Stephen Telford interjected and said that the accused is a suspect in the alleged arson in which the Digicel Store was burnt down.
Guilhuys who said that his instructions are different, argued that his client was merely the caretaker of the store from which the items were alleged to have been stolen. The lawyer said that this store was one of the buildings affected by the blaze that destroyed the Digicel store.
After the fire, Guilhuys said, Lancaster was given the task by owner Liang to be the caretaker of what was left of the building.
According to the lawyer his client had only been taking care of the building as requested by the VC when the trumped up charge was leveled against him.
In his bail application, counsel said that his client had been locked up in excess of 72 hours, contrary to what is stipulated by the constitution. Guilhuys said that his client had been in the lockups since May 8 and was not brought before a magistrate until yesterday.
Telford in his address to the court in response said that when the 72-hour period had elapsed, there was no sitting of court in Linden, adding that he will ascertain why Lancaster was not placed before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court at least by Wednesday.
To this complaint, the acting chief magistrate ordered that an investigation be launched by the police.
Guilhuys said too that “they want to say that the owner of the store had some camera in the store which taped my client.”
After listening to both the prosecution and defence, the magistrate said that taking into consideration all the circumstances, the defendant will be remanded to prison. His matter was transferred to the Christianburg Magis-trates’ Court for May 17.
