Jermaine Daley was yesterday remanded to prison on a charge of armed robbery, after an attempt to compensate the victim did not go as planned.
At the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, it was alleged that on December 17, 2012, Daley, being together with another and armed with a gun, robbed Andy Batson of $39,000, an American Eagle cap and a cellular phone, all totalling $70,500. He pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Attorney Paul Fung-a-Fat, who represented Daley, said that his client works as a jet man in the interior and has never been in trouble with the law.
Batson explained to the court that he no longer wanted to proceed with the matter against Daley, whose mother had agreed to compensate him financially for the value of the items.
“He mother tell me she gonna compensate me fuh ma things, so I don’t want to continue with de matter,” Batson said.
When asked, Daley’s mother, who was present in court, told the magistrate that she was in possession of the $4,500, which Batson agreed to accept as compensation and as such she was ready to pay over that sum to him. The magistrate then noted that the items all together valued $70,500.
“He tell me he gon accept $4,500,” the teen’s mother stressed. Batson, however, did not acknowledge that he had agreed to accept that sum from Daley’s mother. The magistrate dismissed the argument between the teen’s mother and Batson and requested the prosecution to relate the facts of its case to the court.
Police Prosecutor Burgett Grant said that on the day in question, Batson was in Agricola for its village day and was in possession of the articles mentioned in the charge. According to her, he was standing on the road when the accused and another approached him on a cycle. Grant said that the accused was armed with a gun, which he pointed to Batson, while the other proceeded to rob him of the articles, after which they made good their escape.
When asked if there were objections to the defendant being granted his pre-trial liberty, Grant responded in the affirmative, citing the seriousness and prevalence of the offence and that if he is released, there is a likelihood that he would not return to court. Grant emphasised that after the robbery, it took the police two weeks to locate the defendant, who had been in hiding. Although Fung-a-Fat asked that his client be admitted to reasonable bail, but the presiding magistrate acceded to the prosecution’s request.
Daley was remanded to prison until January 25.
