A second accused in the robbery of Land Court Judge Nicola Pierre on Monday claimed that he too was at home on the night of the attack.
Leading his defence in unsworn testimony, accused Nicolas Narine told the court of Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul that he was at home on the night of July 8, 2015.
Narine, Premnauth Samaroo, Daymeion Millington, Warren McKenzie, and Anthony David are on trial for allegedly robbing the judge and her husband, Mohammed Chan, of cash and articles amounting to over $3.6 million, as well as shooting at security guard Ron Peters.
Narine said that he never left his house until July 14. He said he was eventually arrested at his home. He said from there, the police took him to the Diamond Police Station and then moved him on July 18 to the Criminal Investigation Department, at Eve Leary. Narine said there the officers referred to him as ‘Dwight’ and he was placed on an identification parade, which was conducted via Skype.
According to Narine, during the ID parade, he never saw or spoke to anyone. He also claimed that when the police conducted ballistics and forensic tests on him, they found nothing. The accused told the court it was later on the day of the ID parade that the police told him that he was pointed out for a crime that had happened at Montrose, on the East Coast of Demerara.
During her testimony, Justice Pierre had said she pointed out Narine during the ID parade. She told the court that Narine was the person who told her that she was “solid” during the attack. She said with permission from Assistant Superintendent Simeon Reid, who was conducting the ID parade, she had asked Narine to repeat the word ‘solid’ to her. He did and she said that it confirmed to her that he was one of the men who was in her family’s home.
Narine told the court that he has never seen his other co-accused before and that he had no knowledge of the crime the police said that he and the others had committed. Narine ended his testimony by calling on his sister, who will testify on his behalf when the matter is called again.
Fellow accused Millington, while leading his defence, had also testified that he was at home on the night of the attack.
The trial continues today.
