Colwyn Harding who last November accused a police constable of ramming a condom-covered baton up his anus was yesterday granted bail in the sum of $75,000 after being arraigned on a robbery charge at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The allegation against Harding is that on July 9 at Georgetown, using personal violence, he robbed Sherry-Ann Hope of a quantity of cash and five cellular phones all valued $390,000. He denied the charge of robbery-with-violence when it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes represented Harding and in his submissions, said that the defence is in possession of alibi statements which have been handed over to the police. These statements substantiate that his client was elsewhere at the time of the alleged robbery, he said. According to Hughes, the police are in possession of the statements of at least three witnesses who can attest to the fact that his client was not at the location of the alleged robbery.
Police prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that the incident occurred outside the Ashmins Store on High Street. Mangru said that the facts were as stated in the charge. No further details were given.
The prosecution objected to the accused being granted bail saying that the parties are known to each other and that there is a likelihood Harding would tamper with the witness.
Additionally, Mangru told the court that Harding attempted to evade the police and after being admitted to station bail, he failed to return to the station the following day after being ordered by police to so do.
In an application to secure his client’s pretrial liberty however, Hughes refuted the prosecution’s claim noting that both he and Harding had been in constant contact with the police since the institution of the charge. He said that his client was placed on $20,000 station bail and at no time did he evade or attempted to evade the lawmen.
According to Hughes, his client was ordered to return to the station on Thursday which he did and was told to attend court yesterday after signing a recognizance to appear. Counsel emphasized that his client was not at, nor anywhere in the vicinity of the alleged robbery. He informed the court also that Harding still has colostomy bags attached to his body as he continues to recover.
Following the submissions, Hughes succeeded in retaining his client’s pretrial liberty when the magistrate informed the prosecution that its objections were being overruled and that Harding would be placed on $75,000 bail.
The matter will be called again on August 4 for statements. Last November, Harding accused a police constable of ramming a condom-covered baton up his anus and later physically assaulting him. He was hospitalized for weeks. Two police constables were subsequently charged with assaulting him and were placed on bail on June 2 after denying the charges.
Devin Singh and Roslyn Tilbury-Douglas appeared before Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry charged with assaulting Harding sometime between November 1 and November 13, 2013 at the Timehri Police Station. Singh was placed on $200,000 bail while Tilbury-Douglas was placed on $100,000 bail.
