A former policeman, who allegedly broke and entered the Central Immigra-tion and Passport Office, was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Thirty-year-old Dwayne Rodrigues, a father of one of Lot 51 Norton Street, Wortmanville, was not required to plead to the indictable charge of break and enter with intent to commit a felony.
It is alleged that on September 19 at Camp Road, he broke and entered the Central Immigration and Passport Office with intent to commit a felony.
His lawyer Peter Hugh told the court that prior to this incident his client had been a constable in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) attached to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU).
He said his client had received a dismissal letter from the GPF on Sunday as a result of the incident.
The lawyer then applied for reasonable bail for Rodrigues on the grounds that he posed no risk of flight and that the police know where he lives. The lawyer noted that his client was arrested at his residence.
The lawyer went on to say that there had been no break-in at the Central Immigration and Passport Office.
However, Prosecutor Edmond Cooper stated that Rodrigues had worked at the Central Immigration and Passport Office prior to being transferred to TSU.
He said Rodrigues was found in the office by Sergeant Inniss at about 21:00 hours near several computers.
The prosecutor said Rodrigues is well known to the sergeant.
Prosecutor Cooper said that a blowtorch and a cell phone belonging to Rodrigues were left behind when he attempted to flee the scene.
The prosecutor objected to the bail application on the grounds that if released the accused may interfere with the witnesses in the case, thus perverting the course of justice.
Hugh then stated that the phone did not belong to his client and according to what the prosecutor had stated the police did not seem certain that they had the articles that they allegedly recovered from the scene of the incident.
The prosecutor then stated that from information received the phone indeed belonged to Rodrigues since the phone company informed the police that it had been registered to him.
The magistrate subsequently ordered that Rodrigues be remanded to prison and that he returns to court on October 2. Advice is to be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding the case.
