-complainant on firearm charge
A Guyana Defence Force corporal appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive- Hamilton yesterday at the Georgetown Court charged with robbery under arms while in the same matter another man was accused of discharging a loaded firearm at him.
However both were granted bail after their attorneys informed the court that they did not wish to give evidence against each other.
GDF corporal Elroy Newton was charged with robbery under arms. He was not required to plead to the charge which alleges that on June 4 at Georgetown being armed with a gun, he robbed Safraz Khan of $2M, being the property of Abdul Khan.
Imran Khan was not required to plead to the charge which states that on June 4 at Georgetown with intent to maim, disfigure or cause bodily harm to Newton he unlawfully and maliciously discharged a loaded firearm. He was represented by attorney Adrian Thompson in association with Pamela DeSantos.
In her bail application, De Santos said that Khan was attacked and robbed by three persons who were later apprehended by the police.
Two of them were released and one was charged. The robbery involved the theft of $2M from Khan’s brother.
Further, she added that no firearm was found on her client. The only evidence, the attorney added, that the police had was a spent shell which was found on the road.
Prosecutor Shellon Daniels asked for the file to be returned to the DPP so that further advice could be sought since the complainant in the matter had given a statement to the effect that he did not wish to continue with the matter.
In light of the statement, Daniels said that she had no objection to bail. Khan was then granted $60,000 bail and the matter put down for July 19.
Meanwhile, Newton who was charged with robbery under arms was represented by attorney Gregory Gaskin who told the magistrate that the matters were interconnected and Safraz Khan did not want to offer evidence against his client and had made a statement to this affect.
Gaskin asked for reasonable bail to be granted. He said Newton, 30, resides at 23 Block Y Two Friends Housing Scheme, Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara.
He added that his client has been a serving corporal in the Guyana Defence Force for the past thirteen years and is attached to the Joint Services Special Operations group. He asked for the scales of justice to be evenly weighed and for bail to be granted in the sum of $60,000, but the magistrate told him that he was pushing his luck.
However, Police Prosecutor Inspector Joel Ricknauth said that he would not object to bail and asked that the file be sent for further advice from the DPP in view of the additional statement.
Newton was then granted bail in the amount of $65,000. Magistrate Octive-Hamilton then said, “Nobody dictates to me, I make the decisions, this is my courtroom.”
The matter was put down for July 19 for report/advice.
Meanwhile, the pair then made an appearance before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson for Khan to answer a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He denied the charge that on June 4 he unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on Newton.
Attorney Pamela De Santos in her bail application said that Newton indicated that he did not want to offer evidence in the matter.
Police Prosecutor Inspector Stephen Telford said that on the day in question, Imran Khan and Safraz Khan went to an eating place on Light Street. When Imran exited the vehicle, Newton approached and robbed his brother at gunpoint. In defence, being armed with a baseball bat, Imran reportedly hit Newton several times about the body.
Imran was then placed on a bond to keep the peace for two years and fined $30,000 court costs.
