Two men were placed on $50,000 bail each when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine- Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday to answer to the charge of possession of cannabis.
Cecil Gittens and Keon Beckles pleaded not guilty to the charge that on May 10 at 153 Prospect, East Bank Demerara they had in their possession 10 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
According to the prosecution, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department acting on information went to the home of Gittens and conducted a search where they found 10 grammes of cannabis in a pot in the kitchen.
Gittens in his defence said that he normally smokes but he cannot remember having 10 grammes in his home at the time. He said that on the day in question he was at home when he saw some people peeping through his window. He then went to the door, where the persons identified themselves as police officers and said that they had come to conduct a search of the premises because they heard that he smoked marijuana.
The officers, he said, then carried out the search and he was told that they found the illegal substance in a pot in his kitchen. Beckles, he said, was at the time cooking in the kitchen.
The prosecutor objected to bail and this was subsequently overruled by Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry who said it was a bailable offence.
The matter was then transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court where the duo will make their next appearance on May 17.
