Two men appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with stealing over $1.8M from CCS on Camp Street last weekend.
Jerrick De Agrella, 24, of 12 Barima Avenue, Bel Air Park and Richard Herod called `Stay man’,34, of 22 Hadfield Street appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan who remanded the duo to prison after they were not required to plead to the joint charges of break and enter and larceny and damage to property.
It is alleged that sometime between last Saturday and Monday, the duo broke and entered CCS and stole from Money Gram a metal safe containing $1,650,953 cash and a canister containing $77,000.
Additionally it is alleged that during the same period the defendants damaged a metal safe valued $140,000 belonging to CCS.
Reports are that on Saturday afternoon, employees of the stationery store, which is an agent for Money Gram Money Transfer, secured the premises and left. When they turned up for work on Monday morning they discovered the backdoor dislodged. Further checks in the store revealed that the safe which contained money was missing.
The bandits had reportedly disconnected the alarm system during the theft, preventing it from going off.
Despite the lengthy arguments by attorneys-at-law Leslie Sobers and Mark Waldron who represented De Agrella and Herod respectively the magistrate denied the men their pre-trial liberty.
Sobers in his application told the court that his client lives with his mother and sibling. According to counsel the man is employed as a mini-bus conductor and is also a trainee reporter.
Sobers told the court that his client who has no prior brushes with the law, stands somewhat amazed as to why he is before the court. The lawyer stated that he plans to show the court that his client was not on the scene at the time of the theft.
“He was picked up just like that. A group of police went to his home and picked him up just like that. They even beat the living daylights out of him.”
The defence counsel informed the court that during the three days his client was in custody, he was denied the opportunity to see a lawyer. Sobers said that De Agrella was not even given a phone call so that he could get in touch with an attorney.
Counsel stated that certain things were done to his client with an instrument that causes a sensation. He said that the instrument was placed on his body, giving him the feeling that he was being electrocuted.
He added that his client posed no flight risk and should be admitted to bail in light of all the things he went through while in police custody.
“There is no accusation that a weapon was used or that a human was injured or attacked. To show his goodwill he will even lodge his passport with this court to show that he will not flee the country and intends to return for his trial,” the counsel said.
Sobers later said that his client is a welder and someone had borrowed a gas tank and some welding equipment from him. He said that was how his client was implicated in the matter.
Meanwhile Waldron told the court on behalf of the other defendant that he finds it somewhat amazing that this amount of money could be stored in a safe when there are several banks around Georgetown.
He said that the matter had simply remained indictable because of the amount of money that was stolen.
“He was continuously shocked with a 12-volt truck battery while in custody,” Waldron informed the court.
According to the defence counsel his client resides with his father, spouse and their one-month-old baby.
Police prosecutor Sherwin Matthews in response to the submissions asked that the defendants be refused bail in view of the serious nature of the offences.
He informed the court that the two defendants were seen on a security camera and that was the reason for police turning up at their homes.
Matthews told the court that the attorneys need to bring evidence to show that their clients were assaulted while in police custody.
“There are no visible marks or anything. The court cannot believe that because there is no evidence to show that. I am therefore asking the court not to grant them bail.”
Waldron later asked the court “What makes break and enter serious?” The counsel added that every day matters of this nature come before Magistrate Sullivan.
The case continues on Monday when the two lawyers are expected to make another attempt at securing bail for the defendants.