A young robbery accused is now a remanded prisoner after his declaration that he “never rob nobody” did not move a city magistrate to grant him his release on bail.
Joshua Austin, 21, of Lot 157 Lodge Housing Scheme, pleaded not guilty to an armed robbery charge yesterday when he appear-ed before acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in Georgetown.
It is alleged that on December 22nd, 2019, at Albouystown, while in the company of another, and while armed with a handgun, Austin robbed Derek Gaskin of a gold chain with a pendant, valued $510,000, a gold ring valued $42,000 and a gold band valued $180,000, which were all the property of Gaskin.
The young man was represented by attorney-at-law Paul Fung-A-Fat, who indicated to the court that his client has been in the lock-ups since January 8th, 2020. He then said that the robbery was caught on CCTV cameras and that his client could not be any of the persons seen in the video because the men seen are much taller than his client.
Police Prosecutor Tracymay Gittens objected to bail and told the court that it was not be the first time that Austin was being charged. She then said that on the day in question, Austin robbed the man then ran away. She said that Gaskin picked up a bicycle and followed Austin but that the young man got away by catching a taxi.
He was later arrested and placed on an identity parade, where he was positively identified by Gaskin.
Austin objected to the prosecutor’s facts. He told the court that the only reason the man identified him as the culprit was because the police told him to. He then said “I never rob nobody” and went on to say that the police have not been kind to him.
Austin, who has been charged before for similar offences and is currently on trial for allegedly robbing an undercover cop, was eventually remanded to prison and his next court date was set at January 28th, 2020
