The three men who police say were arrested in Georgetown on Monday with two unlicensed pistols and 19 live rounds were yesterday charged and remanded.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to answer to the four joint charges were Kacey Chapman, 27, Sheldon Andrews, 24 and Adam McDonald, 30.
The first charge alleged that on November 26th, at High and Princes streets, the three men had a .32 Taurus pistol in their possession while not being licensed firearm holders.
It is also alleged that on the same date, they were in possession of a 9mm Glock pistol without being licensed firearm holders.The final two charges alleged that the defendants had in their possession 12 live 9mm rounds of ammunition and 7 live rounds of .32 ammunition, without being licensed firearm holders.
After the charges were read, Chapman, a taxi driver of Lot 77 South Sophia, Andrews, of 306 West Ruimveldt, and McDonald, a block maker of Lot 848 South Amelia’s Ward, Linden, all denied the charges levelled against them.
A fifth charge was read to Chapman, which alleged that on July 5th, 2017, at Grove Access Road, East Bank Demerara, together with others and armed with a gun, he robbed Marcia Maria Martin of $700,000, 4 ounces of raw gold, valued $600,000, an LG phone, a bag and 3 Citizens Bank ATM cards.
Chapman also denied this allegation.
Police prosecutor Simone Payne objected to the defendants being granted bail, citing the seriousness of the crimes. In relation to the robbery charge against Chapman, she noted that a firearm was used.According to the prosecutor’s case, the firearms were found under the front seat of a car driven by Chapman. Andrews and McDonald were in the backseat at the time. Addressing the armed robbery charge against Chapman, the prosecutor stated that the accused was pointed out during an identification parade as the person who robbed Martin.
Attorney David DaSilva, who represented Chapman, urged the court to grant his client bail. The attorney said his client is not a flight risk and that he is the main source of income for his grandmother, who recently had a stroke. According to DaSilva, his client was transporting a passenger when his vehicle was intercepted by police and the firearms were found under a seat in the vehicle.
Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, who represented Andrews, sought his client’s release on bail, while noting that nothing was found on the man. The attorney said that the only reason his client was charged was because of the poor work by the police. He urged the court to grant his client reasonable bail. In his bid to also receive bail, McDonald stated that he left Linden to visit his aunt at East Ruimveldt and later received a call to meet his cousin on High Street. After leaving a bus, the accused stated that two policemen approached him and put him to lay on the ground. He said he was later shackled by his hands and feet and lifted by the two officers near a gas station where Chapman and Andrews were. There, McDonald stated, he was put to lay on the ground and when he asked what was going on he was slapped and kicked. The defendant added that he was asked if he knew Chapman and Andrews and he said no. McDonald maintained that he was innocent of the charges and urged the court to grant him bail.
Subsequently, the three men were asked to post $50,000 bail for each of the four charges, for a total of $200,000. They were also ordered to report to the Ruimveldt Station every Friday. While he was granted bail on the gun and ammunition charges, Chapman, was remanded to prison for the armed robbery charge.
The three men are expected to return to court on December 17th, while Chapman is expected to report to Providence Court One on December 3rd for a hearing on the robbery charge.
McDonald, along with another man, Jermaine Bailey, was charged in 2015 with multiple counts of robbery. He was also charged with having in his possession a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and two live rounds of 9mm ammunition.
In 2016, they were both freed of the robbery charges after the victims did not appear in court to give evidence against them and McDonald was also freed of the illegal firearm and ammunition charges as the court found that there was insufficient evidence against him.
