One of the four men charged with the robbery of the Bank of Baroda branch at Mon Repos is on bail but a bid by another to win his pre-trial liberty was denied yesterday.
Eon Campbell, Kennard Jabar and Sean Aaron made their second appearances before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul yesterday at the Better Hope Community Centre for a report on the case.
It is alleged that on January 22, at Mon Repos, the three accused, together with others, robbed Raywanttie Lall and Latchmie Mohabir of $2,075,900 in cash and Shirley Lucas of a .32 Taurus revolver, property of Roshan Khan Security Service.
Although they were all remanded to prison, Campbell subsequently managed to get bail through the High Court.
Defence attorney Adrian Thompson, who is representing Jabar, yesterday made an application for bail on behalf of his client. According to Thompson, there is no evidence against his client in regards to the bank robbery and so he should be granted reasonable bail. He said his client was never identified nor was he placed on an identification parade. He also noted that being charged with the offence does not mean that Jabar is guilty of the crime.
However, police prosecutor David Goodridge objected to bail based on the nature of the offence and pointed out that Jabar gave the court two addresses—one at East La Penitence and one at South Cummingsburg—and he foresaw a potential burden on the prosecution if it wishes to make contact with Jabar again.
Goodridge also stated that the evidence against Jabar is strong since he gave an oral statement to the police implicating himself.
As a result, Magistrate Ally-Seepaul denied the bail application.
Meanwhile, Campbell’s attorney, Paul Braam, also made an application for his client’s tools of trade to be returned to him.
Campbell’s bail was set at $150,000 by a High Court judge.
Campbell, who is a tint artist by profession, needs his tools, the lawyer told the court. He has asked for the police to return Campbell’s cutting plotter, drill guns, heat guns as well as eight rearview mirrors belonging to his customers and other equipment the police took from his client’s home. The lawyer also claimed that police told his client that if he did not admit to the crime, he would ruin the business.
Orders were eventually given by the magistrate to the prosecutor to look into the application made by Campbell’s attorney on his tools of trade. He was told to find out whether the tools are needed for the investigation.
The matter was adjourned until February 18, when the fourth accused, Shawn Harris, will join Jabar, Campbell and Aaron for a report on the matter.
The fifth accused, Timothy Morris, is still to be apprehended by the police.
