Anthony David, one of the accused in the robbery of Justice Nicola Pierre, admitted that he transported the robbers from the area after they came under fire, Assistant Superintendent Mitchell Caesar testified yesterday.
Caesar, a detective, gave testimony yesterday on David’s oral statement when the trial of the five accused, David, Warren McKenzie, Nicholas Narine, Daymeion Millington and Premnauth Samaroo, continued at the Better Hope Community Centre
The men are jointly charged with robbing Justice Pierre and her husband, Mohammed Chan of over $3.6 million in cash and goods, as well as shooting at their security guard, Ron Peters.
Caesar, who assisted in the investigations of the home invasion, told the court that on July 15 at a home at Craig, East Bank Demerara, he made contact with Millington, Narine and five other youngsters whose names were mentioned in his statement and told them of the offence they committed on Justice Pierre and her family. He said that after the men were cautioned by him, he then arrested them and took them to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters.
Later, on the morning of July 15 at CID, Caesar said he contacted David and told him of the offence, but the accused denied any connection to the crime. The next day, he added, he interviewed David in the presence of Detective Suraj Singh and David recounted being contacted on the night of July 8. Caesar said he claimed he was at home when he received a call from one of his friends, who told him that they were on a “wuk” in the East Coast and persons opened fire on them and that they needed him to come and pick them up. David, Caesar testified, admitted that he left for the East Coast, made two trips and took the men to Agricola. David also said that the men did not get any money since they had to leave it behind, he added.
After hearing this, in the presence of Singh, Caesar said he asked David if he wished to make a written statement but David declined. However, Caesar said he made an entry about the man’s statement in his personal diary.
During cross-examination, defence attorney Adrian Thompson, who is now defending David, suggested that his client never made the oral statement. He also suggested that Caesar was fabricating evidence against his client since an entry was not made in the police station’s diary but rather in Caesar’s personal diary after David made the alleged statement.
Caesar, in reply to Thompson’s suggestions, said that David did make the statement and he did not fabricate the evidence. He also said he was not required to make an entry in the police station diary.
The trial continues today.
