Two men were yesterday jointly charged with robbery under arms when they appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Charity Magistrate’s Court.
Carlos Petrie, 24, a cash crop farmer of Suddie and Satesh Singh, 24, a labourer of Little Red Village, Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast were not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on November 25 at Zorg, Essequibo Coast, while armed with a gun, they robbed Fizool Mohamed of a gold band and gold chain.
According to the police, around 20:05 hrs, Mohamed, 55, of Zorg, was attacked and robbed of his personal jewellery by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. Investigations revealed that Mohamed was at his restaurant when the suspects approached and demanded the jewellery. During the incident, he was shot to his left foot and the suspects escaped.
Following investigations, the two men were later arrested.
Both defendants were represented by Attorney Haimraj Rajkumar who said that both of his clients have fixed places of abode and support their wife and children. He said they were not flight risks and as such asked for reasonable bail to be granted to them.
Bail was objected to by Prosecutor Ramsahoye Rambajue who told the court that the prosecution strongly opposes to bail due to the nature and prevalence of the offence. He also said that a dangerous weapon was used and Mohamed was hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of the Suddie Hospital and was still not in a stable condition.
Rambajue also told the court that the police are investigating similar reports of robbery in the village that Petrie and Singh might be linked to.
He said if granted bail, there is a possibility that neither will return to court for trial.
After considering the matter, Magistrate Scarce told Petrie and Singh that even though the offence was bailable, the objections made by the prosecutor were also considered and bail would be refused.
The men were remanded to prison until December 17 when they are expected to return to the Suddie Magistrate’s Court for commencement of the trial.
