Kenrick Duncan, 24, accused of last month’s $41M armed robbery at Lisa’s General Store, yesterday denied the crime although police say that he confessed.
Duncan, of Lot 256 West Ruimveldt, was arraigned on September 26 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and at the time was not required to plead to the then indictable charge.
It was alleged that on September 10, at Wellington and Charlotte streets, being in company of others and armed with a gun, he robbed Hu Yu Nan, owner of Lisa’s General Store, of a quantity of foreign currency, electronics and jewellery, which amounted to $41M.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he made his second court appearance yesterday, where Prosecutor Bharat Mangru said that he had given a statement confessing to committing the crime.
Mangru told the court that at around 4:20am on the day of the robbery, Hu Yu Nan was inside of his bedroom in the four-storey building that also houses Lisa’s General Store when the door was kicked open by five men, two of whom were armed with guns.
Mangru added that on September 21, acting on information, police officers arrested Duncan and two bags, a wristwatch and a DVD player were amongst a few items found at his home during a search on the premises. Mangru also said that the bags recovered still had the security features intact.
He also told the court that Duncan had confessed to being a part of the crime to the police, and added that there was a caution statement that will prove that Duncan has admitted to the crime.
But attorney Satyesh Kissoon, who represented Duncan, argued that simply because the police claim that the stolen items were found at Duncan’s home did not make the police’s case strong enough, since it could also be also be a case where Duncan simply received stolen goods without being knowledgeable about how they were acquired.
Kissoon noted that Duncan’s house was ransacked by the police. He also said that his client, who vends at Orange Walk, Bourda, was among all the vendors within that vicinity who were arrested and held for 72 hours in connection with the robbery.
In seeking bail, he noted that Duncan was one of seven persons who police say committed the crime and in the circumstance he said that an identification parade should be done.
He said that his client would be willing to comply with any of the conditions put forth by the court for the granting of bail.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry stated that she had taken the arguments of both parties into consideration and decided to deny bail.
As a result, Duncan was remanded to prison until October 16, when the case will be called at Court Five for reports and fixtures.
