Junior Stewart, one of the three men charged with stealing almost $9 million during an attack at the Ramada Princess Hotel casino in April last year, was acquitted yesterday after a city court found that the police have failed to make a case against him.
However, Stewart’s two co-accused, Wayne Griffith and Andrew Blackman, were not as fortunate as Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman informed them that a prima facie case was made out against them. As a result, they will have to lead a defence to the charge when their trial continues next Monday.
The charge against the three stated that while being in the company of others and armed with guns, they robbed cashiers of $8,951,000, which was the property of the Princess Casino, on April 29th, 2017, at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
During the attack, four casino employees—Eon Garraway, 32, who is a clerk, James Gregory, Orlando Knights and Udairan Sookraj—were shot. Lance Corporal 17352 Andrew Richardson, who was attached to the Brickdam Impact Base at the time, was also shot during a gunfight while responding to a report of the robbery.
The Guyana Police Force had said in a statement that four gunmen entered the casino and discharged rounds into the air. They held up the security guard who was on duty and took away his shotgun and ammunition, then proceeded to the cashiers, taking away foreign and local currency.
Stabroek News was told that Griffith was held after he reportedly found himself trapped in a maintenance room. He is reported to have attempted to take off his mask and leave the premises, but the police were alerted and he was promptly arrested. A search was conducted on his person and a shotgun was recovered.
Blackman was subsequently arrested and then Stewart, who was held at his sister’s house at Vreed-en-Hoop. A bag containing $922,000 was also discovered.
