A police witness yesterday recounted the identification of Premnauth Samaroo as one of the men who robbed Justice Nicola Pierre.
Police Constable Martin Edwards testified at the Better Hope Community Centre yesterday that Samaroo was identified by Ron Peters, the security guard who exchanged gunfire with the robbers on the morning of July 9th, 2015.
Edwards said that he witnessed the identification parade that was conducted at the Beterver-wagting Police Station, where Peters identified Samaroo.
Samaroo, Anthony David, Daymeion Millington, Warren McKenzie and Nicholas Narine are on trial for allegedly 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, Peters.
Edwards said Samaroo was contacted by an inspector, who was stationed at the police station, to be a part of the ID parade. He said Samaroo was placed in a room with eight other men who each had a similar build and complexion to the description of the robber. Peters was then invited to inspect the ID parade and he picked out Samaroo, Edwards told the court.
Also giving testimony yesterday was Detective Inspector Suraj Singh, who corroborated Assistant Superintendent Mitchell Caesar’s earlier testimony on David’s alleged oral statement.
According to Singh, who was present during the interview of David, the accused said that he received a call from “Sadam,” who told him that they were on a “wuk” up at Montrose and they were shot up and they wanted him [David] to come and collect them. Singh also told the court that David said he picked up the men and took them to Agricola. He said too that the accused claimed that he did not receive any money since the men had to run away, leaving some of the items behind.
Singh said he observed Caesar making a note in his diary as David was speaking, but he too noted that David declined to make a written statement about the night.
Defence attorney Adrian Thompson asked whether it is not a requirement for police to take notes or reports in the police station diary rather than in an officer’s personal diary as was done by Caesar. Singh, in reply, told the court that it is not wrong to make it anywhere as long as there is a record of it. He also opined that David did indeed admit to transporting the men.
The trial continues on Friday.
