No bail for man charged in stick-up of schoolboy

A West Bank Demerara youth was yesterday denied bail by a city court after being accused of using an icepick to rob a Third Form-level student.

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan denied a bail application made by attorney Lyndon Amsterdam on behalf of his client, Dennis Jones, citing the seriousness and prevalence of the crime and the issue of public safety.

It was alleged that Jones, 20, on December 24, being in the company of others and armed with an icepick, robbed the teenage boy of a cellphone, valued $28,000 and $13,000 cash. Jones denied the charge.

Amsterdam questioned the court on the validity of the charge, stating that it sounded “shaky” and that the police perhaps could not get the principle person and so just charged whoever they could.

He made an application for bail to be granted to the defendant but an objection was made by prosecutor Deniro Jones, who told the court that the victim is a Third Form student, who, after the encounter, had seen the accused at a bus park and alerted police, leading to his arrest.

Jones also noted that both perpetrators of the robbery had been armed with icepicks.

The accused has been remanded until his next court appearance, which is set for February 9, before Magistrate Delon Bess in Court 6.