Two men from New Amsterdam who are accused of receiving a stolen car were placed on bail in the sum of $400,000 each when they appeared before Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Twenty-nine-year-old Shermon Joseph of 17-7 Charlotte Street, New Amsterdam and Quacy Welcome of 219 M&DC Housing Scheme, New Amsterdam were not required to plead to the indictable charge of receiving stolen property.
It is alleged that on November 27 at New Amsterdam, Joseph and Welcome received a motor-car valued over $2.4M, property of Cecil Carter, knowing same to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained.
Joseph’s lawyer applied for bail for him on the grounds that he had an unblemished record with the court and there were certain conditions that must be presented by the prosecution to establish the case against his client.
Meanwhile, Welcome’s lawyer also applied for bail for him stating that his client was a complete stranger to the court.
Prosecutor Sherwin Mathews objected to the bail applications on the grounds that the case is still being investigated.
However, Welcome’s lawyer stated that for the prosecution to object to the bail applications, four important criteria must be established. He stated that the case should be one of a serious nature, there must be a likelihood of the defendants repeating the offence, tampering with the witness or not returning to the court if granted bail. He noted that none of those was an issue with the court. He went on to say that “the prosecution has trotted out unsubstantiated claims” for the bail applications to be refused.
Mathews then stated that the case before the court resulted from a robbery under arms matter and the file had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice. He told the court further that Joseph and Welcome were found with the car. He noted too that it had been recovered, photographed and returned to Carter.
Welcome’s lawyer then stated that “the prosecution is reducing this honourable court to a market place because they are only fishing.”
