A Leopold Street vendor has been remanded after being charged with starting the fire which destroyed three buildings, including a vulcanising shop and the Elegance Jewellery and Pawn Shop at George Street.
Calvin Lawrence, 22, of Lot 101 Leopold Street, Werk-en-Rust, George-town, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the George-town Magistrate’s Courts yesterday and faced three counts of arson. Lawrence was not required to answer to the charge which stated that on June 24, 2021, at Lot 1 George Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to a dwelling house valued $18 million, containing articles valued $6 million, property of Collin Bentley.
It is also alleged that on June 24, 2021, at Lot 1 George Street, Werk-en-Rust, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to a dwelling house valued $38 million, owned by Nalini Baboolall, containing articles valued $16 million belonging to Kevin Phillips.
Finally, it is alleged that on June 24, 2021, at Lot 1 George Street, Werk-en-Rust, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to a dwelling house valued $250 million containing articles amounting to $30 million, property of Hardat Maniram.
While he was not required to plead to the charges, his attorney, Paul Fung-A-Fat, made a bail application on his behalf. According to Fung-A-Fat, Lawrence is maintaining that he is innocent.
According to the police prosecutor, there is video footage which shows the man being at the site of the fire moments before it started. The prosecutor also objected to bail being granted on the grounds of the serious nature of the offence and because the police had difficulty arresting the man.
This newspaper has reported that the fire started around 1 am on June 24. It destroyed a building that housed a vulcanising shop and the owner’s residence, another house, and damaged the western side of Elegance Jewellery and Pawn Shop. Phillips told this newspaper that he owned the shop and lived there. He also informed that several Venezuelan nationals lived in the building.
Meanwhile, Maniram told this newspaper that the fourth storey of the building which houses Elegance Jewellery and Pawnshop as well as an office area was damaged by the fire. The western side of the four-storey building was also scorched by the fire.
