Two Linden men were on Thursday remanded to prison after they both denied that they had been found with nearly 500 grammes of cannabis between them.
Patrick Seaford, 48, of Wismar and Sunil Persaud, 39, of Nottinghamshire, were separately charged with narcotics possession when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
According to Seaford and Persaud’s charges, the men allegedly had their possessions 21 and 460 grammes of cannabis, respectively. Persaud’s charge stated that he had the narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Both men pleaded not guilty.
In Seaford’s matter, the police alleged that on July 30, at around 1:30pm, the man, a vendor, was contacted by police and a search of his stall was requested. During the search, a yellow mustard bottle containing about a dozen Ziploc bags with cannabis was found. According to the police’s case, Seaford had said that he had purchased the cannabis.
In the man’s defence, attorney Konyo Thompson said that a number of persons had been at the market stall preparing to head to a funeral when Seaford was approached by the police. Two of the persons, she said, allegedly ran away when they saw the police approach. The drug, she added, was also found on the countertop of the stall.
She also pointed out that the police’s facts had failed to mention that other persons had been present in the stall.
“My client is still to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Thompson said. Two versions of the facts are present, she pointed out before requesting that the defence’s version be given precedence.
Prosecutor Michael Grant objected to bail based on the prevalence of the offence along with the fact that no special reasons pertaining to the charge had been listed for the consideration of bail.
Speaking on Persaud’s arrest, Thompson said that the defendant had no knowledge of the drug and had seen several persons running away moments before he was approached by the police. At the time, she said, Persaud had been peeling coconut in front of his yard when one of the running persons threw something nearby.
In response, Prosecutor Grant said that the incident had occurred around 7:30am and there had been no one else around when the police saw the defendant throw the bag containing the cannabis away.
Grant also objected to bail in Persaud’s matter.
Both men were remanded to prison and the next hearing for each matter was set for August 5 at the Linden Magistrate’s Court.
