Wendell Austin will be spending the next 56 months in jail after he was found guilty of a knife-point hold-up.
Austin, 21, of 134 Canterbury Walk, Beterver-wagting, East Coast of Demerara, maintained his innocence when initially arraigned on the charge of armed robbery.
It was alleged that he and others, on January 4, at Longden Street, Georgetown, robbed Kishan Persaud of a Toshiba laptop, valued $120,000; a BlackBerry Bold smartphone, valued $70,000; $15,000 and a silver finger ring and band, valued at $4,000 and $7,000, respectively.
It was the police’s case that Austin, along with others on the day in question, held Persaud at knife-point. According to Police Prosecutor Joel Ricknauth, Austin walked up behind the victim and held a knife to the back of his neck. Two men then snatched a bag from Persaud, while Austin took the mentioned items from Persaud and then made good their escape.
At the end of Austin’s trial at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Magistrate Judy Latchman found him guilty. Before delivering the sentence, she said she considered the seriousness and prevalence of the offense, the mitigating factors, the fact that a weapon was used and the organised manner in which the offence was committed.
Earlier, Austin threw a plank at members of the media, who were approximately ten feet away, to prevent them from photographing him as he was being escorted by a police officer on his way to the courtroom to be sentenced.
