Bail has been granted to the four men recently accused of robbing a businessman of a quantity of raw gold at Matthews Ridge.
After being on remand for almost a month, Baldeo Francis, 37, a gold miner, of Skull Mountain, Arakaka, Ramesh Singh, 45, a driver of Port Kaituma, Kurt Nedd, 27, a Police Constable, and Leron Campbell, 26, a gold miner of Port Kaituma were granted bail on Monday, December 9th, 2019, by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.
The defendants’ lawyers renewed their bail applications. After the bail allocations, the Police Prosecutor was asked by the magistrate whether there were any objections to the men’s release, to which the prosecutor responded in the negative. He did, however, ask that conditions be applied.
As a result, Singh, Nedd and Campbell were released on $300,000 bail each, while Francis was granted $400,000 bail.
The conditions attached to bail were that the defendants lodge their passports with the clerk of court and stay 50 feet away from the victim. Additionally, they were instructed to report to the Arakaka Police Station until the determination of their trial.
The men were advised to make their next court appearance on February 4th, 2020 when they will appear in the Matthews Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
It is alleged that the quartet on November 11th, 2019, at Matthews Ridge, North West District, being in the company of each other and while armed with guns, robbed Jose DeCosta of $95,000 cash and a quantity of raw gold valued at $18 million, which was the property of Deonarine Sookram, a businessman.
When the allegation was presented to them in the courtroom of Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty, the men were not required to plead to the indictable charge.
Francis was further charged with having in his possession a .223 rifle and two 9 mm pistols when he was not the owner of a firearm licence at the time at Skull Mountain, Arakaka, North West District. The last charge against Francis stated that on the same day and at the same location, he had 120 rounds of ammunition in his possession when he was not the owner of a firearm licence. He denied both charges.
According to the police, on the day in question, the victim, who is the owner of a gold mining company, and his workers were at the Matthews Ridge Airstrip awaiting a plane to travel to Georgetown. However, during their wait, the defendants, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, attacked them and took the raw gold and cash. They then made good their escape. The matter was reported and police, acting on information, stopped Francis’ vehicle. The vehicle was then searched and the raw gold was found in a container. Francis was then arrested and based on the information he provided to the police, the other men were later arrested.
Blackman had objected to the men being released on bail on the grounds of the serious nature and penalty of the offence and the valued of the raw gold.
