Tucville resident Akeem Morris was sentenced to 18 months in jail yesterday after admitting to using a cutlass to rob a Cuban national, while his co-accused, who denied the charge, was remanded to prison.
Morris, 27, and Samuel Shepherd, 24, of ‘B’ Field, Sophia, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One, where they were read two armed robbery charges.
The first charge stated that on December 29th, 2019, at Georgetown, while being arm-ed with a cutlass, they robbed Jose Sequea of a phone, valued $40,000, and $4,000 cash.
It was further alleged that on the same date and at the same location, they also robbed Diego Betancourt of a phone, valued $25,000.
Morris denied the latter charge but admitted to the first charge while Shepherd denied both charges.
According to Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, the attack occurred around 8 am last Sunday. He said Sequea and Betancourt were at Stabroek Market purchasing fruits when Morris and Shepherd approached them and placed a cutlass at Sequea’s neck, after which Morris relieved him of the articles mentioned in the charge.
They then tried escaping but the two Cubans started chasing them. Mansfield said it was not long before the Cubans saw police and alerted them about the robbery. The policemen then took up the chase and apprehended the two men and after conducting a search they found the cutlass. However, the stolen items were not recovered. The two Cubans positively identified Morris and Shepard as the men who robbed them.
When asked by the magistrate if what the prosecutor said was true, Morris answer-ed, “I fly into a passion and start broadsiding he.” He added that he did not understand why he did it but noted it was good to be honest to himself and the people.
