“My worship I de pick up by four black clothes police and dey carry me at de back ah de cemetery and beat me mercilessly” Gregory Howes said on Tuesday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Howes, 38, of 524 East Ruimveldt, Housing Scheme, who allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman, on Sunday, pleaded not guilty to the charge of larceny from the person.
It is alleged that on December 7, Howes stole a gold chain valued $60,000 from Ruthann Edwards at the Stabroek Market.
However, Howes stated that at the time of the incident he was not downtown. He said he was on his way home when a policeman rode up to him on a motorcycle and called four others in a vehicle. He said one of the policemen in the vehicle told him that his wife (Edwards) was robbed of her gold chain at Stabroek Market and he was the person who did it.
“I tell he foh tek me on de market to see if anyone would identify me. But he tell me that he gon tek me where he wan,” the accused said.
He said that the policemen then placed him in the vehicle and took him behind the cemetery to beat him. Howes pointed to the bloodied gauze wrapped around his head. He then presented a document, which he said, would have shown that he was at his sister’s wedding, dealing with the ordering of the chairs, cleaning up of the place after the wedding and so on. He said the cleaning had extended from the Saturday into Sunday and there was no way he could have committed the crime.
The magistrate then placed Howes on self bail and ordered that he appear back in court on January 27.
