Rabindranauth Seemangal, who confessed to his part in last year’s $7.2M Bel Air heist, on Friday said he feared for his life after two of the five persons still on trial for the robbery started taking food for him at the Camp Street prison.
Attorney Glenn Hanoman, a special prosecutor in the case, reported the situation to Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Friday, when Seemangal was due to testify as a witness for the prosecution.
Seemangal pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years last Wednesday.
He had been charged with two counts of armed robbery, based on the allegations that on July 12, at Bel Air Gardens, being armed with a gun, he and co-accused Chandraradha Rampersaud, Jermaine Mitchell, Aubrey Simon, Rayon Jones and Hardat Kumar robbed Annie Ramsood—Rampersaud’s daughter—of $1.4 million and US$29,000 (equivalent to $5.8 million), totalling $7.2 million. They were also accused of robbing Ramsood of a BlackBerry Smartphone and a quantity of cash, valued $427,000 in total. Seemangal was also jointly charged with Mitchell and Simon with having in their possession a 9 mm pistol and eight rounds of 9 mm ammunition, without being the holders of firearm and ammunition licences.
Although he had indicated that he did not wish to testify against his former co-defendants at the time of his sentencing, he was due to take the witness stand on Friday.
At the brief hearing on Friday, Hanoman reported that two of the accused, all of whom are out on bail, had been taking food for the witness. He noted that Seemangal has told both him and prison officers that he did not wish to take anything from anyone, and that he was afraid of the consequences of eating the food.
Seemangal said he did not want anything from anyone as he feared for his life.
Hanoman requested the Magistrate to have checks done on the food for any poisonous substances which could harm Seemangal.
Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry said that it was brought to her attention that two of the defendants in the trial had brought food for Seemangal in the past days and that this was never done before while he was incarcerated. As a result, she told the defendants to desist from bringing food to Seemangal and they all agreed.
Meanwhile, Hanoman also found himself accused of improper conduct on Friday, when defence attorney Randolph Kirton brought it to the court’s attention that he had seen Hanoman, Seemangal, and businessman Malcolm Panday, who is the husband of Ramsood, having a conversation prior to the hearing.
Kirton said that Hanoman, having Panday talking to the already charged Seemangal, for about 12 minutes, was not appropriate, especially since the trial is ongoing and Seemangal is still to give evidence on the prosecution’s behalf.
Hanoman, who walked in minutes after Kirton explained what happened, said that he was speaking to Seemangal concerning the evidence which he would be presenting to the court. However, he accepted that he was wrong to include Panday, who was not present in the courtroom, and he assured the magistrate that it would not happen again.
After Hanoman asked for 15 minutes to confer with witnesses, whom he had not met or briefed, the Chief Magistrate suggested that he could have the weekend to prepare and the matter was adjourned until today. Seemangal and other witnesses are expected to testify.
