A convicted prisoner and another man were on Monday cleared of a charge of conspiracy to commit an armed robbery after the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.
The charge against Ronlee Rampersaud, 26, a DVD vendor of 124 Middle Road, La Penitence and Seon Grant, 26, a clothes vendor, of 168 BB Eccles, stated that they conspired to commit an armed robbery on November 14, 2014. Rampersaud is currently serving sentences amounting to nine years for two counts of armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery and two counts of discharging a loaded firearm, which were also committed in November of 2014.
Although Prosecutor Kerry Bostwick argued that a prima facie case was made out against the men, Magistrate Judy Latchman did not agree and dismissed the charge. Magistrate Latchman informed the men that they were freed of the charge owing to the weakness in the prosecution’s case.
Rampersaud told the court that he previously pleaded guilty to five charges and referred to the case against him as a fabrication by the police.
Grant also proclaimed his innocence, while stating that the police wrongfully charged him and could not prove the case since it was indeed a fabrication as evidenced by the many inconsistencies presented by the police witnesses.
