One of the three men who police say was involved in a shoot-out with businessman Neezam Khan during a foiled robbery, at Grove, East Bank Demerara on Saturday was yesterday charged and remanded to prison.
The accused, Kurtis Vasconcellos, 21, of 22 First Street, Agricola, was discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) on Tuesday, three days after he was admitted for gunshot injuries. He appeared yesterday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1 with a bandaged hand and neck.
The police said Vasconcellos, in the company of others, on June 6th, at Grove, with intent to murder, discharged a loaded firearm at Khan. On the same day, it is alleged that while being armed with a gun he robbed Khan of a $200,000 gold chain and $500,000 a gold ring.
Vasconcellos was not required to plead to the charges.
At yesterday’s hearing, attorney Dexter Todd appeared for Vasconcellos and declared that his client was innocent of the charge. “Madam, there are serious disputes over the police facts and investigations,” Todd said, while noting that Vasconcellos was on his parked motorcycle in an area where there was an attempted robbery and after hearing gunshots he decided to ride away from the scene but was shot.
The charge that Vasconcellos fired a loaded firearm with intent to murder, the attorney said, is also disputable since there was no evidence on record showing that the firearm was discovered on the person of the defendant and there was no evidence to even prove that he was the person who shot at the complainant.
Todd said the only evidence that the police are relying on is that Vasconcellos was pointed out by the complainant in an identification parade. However, he submitted that the police cannot produce any evidence in court that would suggest that Vasconcellos was involved in the robbery.
But according to Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, the complainant and a friend were in front of a snackette in Grove when the accused along with three others arrived on motorcycles.
They attacked the complainant and relieved him of his jewellery, shooting him in his right arm in the process, Mangru said.
The victim, a licensed firearm holder, retaliated and fired several shots in the direction of the men, the prosecutor added, while noting that Vasconcellos was shot to his neck and arm.
Mangru objected to the accused being granted bail since he was positively identified by the victim during an ID parade as the person who robbed him. He also cited the prevalence of the offence and the fact that a firearm was used in the commission of the crime.
Bail was subsequently refused and Vasconcellos was ordered to return to court on June 30th.
An eyewitness had related to Stabroek News that four men were seen in the Grove area on the day before the robbery, however only three returned to rob the businessman.
The witness said that one of the men created a roadblock by sitting on his parked motorcycle in the middle of the road, while the other two proceeded to rob Khan.
