Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday ordered that an ex-policeman be remanded to prison when he appeared before her at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court for allegedly using a broken glass bottle as a weapon to rob a man of a gold chain, among other items.
Twenty-five-year-old Troy Stephens of East Ruimveldt Squatting Area entered a not-guilty plea to the charge of robbery under arms.
He denied that on August 29 at East La Penitence, being armed with a broken glass bottle, he robbed Jason Aaron of a gold chain, a cell phone and a laptop computer, totalling $438,500 in value.
Stephens stated that he was a special constable for six years but he resigned last year.
He said that during his time as a policeman, he and Aaron had become friends and he had given Aaron a cell phone to be fixed along with $10,000.
He said Aaron had told him that his workshop was located on Regent and Bourda streets but when he made checks he did not find it.
He said that on the day in question he was in East La Penitence when he saw Aaron and asked him for the phone and the money but Aaron told him that the two of them were no longer friends and he would not be giving him anything back.
Meanwhile, Aaron, who was also in court, stated that on the day in question he was walking along East La Penitence when Stephens approached him and started behaving disorderly.
He said that Stephens then picked up a glass bottle, broke it and attempted to stab him. He said that the broken bottle tore his shirt. He said he attempted to flee but Stephens grabbed him and fired another stab. He stated that Stephens grabbed his gold chain and then his cell phone when he took it out to make a call.
Aaron later made a report of the incident and Stephens was arrested and charged.
Police Prosecutor Kevin London stated that the phone was recovered and is currently lodged at the police station. He said that the arresting officer found Stephens with the phone in his hands.
Stephens told the court that he had received a severe beating by the arresting officers although Aaron had also stabbed him.
The magistrate subsequently ordered that Stephens be remanded to prison and that the matter be transferred to Court Two for September 25.