Rawle Franklin, one of the four men recently held after a shootout with the police on Mandela Avenue, was last Friday faced with multiple charges, including shooting at police, armed robbery and abduction, and he was remanded to prison.
Franklin, who was shot during the encounter, appeared via Zoom before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, where five charges were read to him.
It was alleged that on August 18, at Mandela Avenue, Franklin discharged a loaded firearm at the police with intent to maim, disfigure or cause grievous bodily harm to them. The man was not required to plead to the charge.
He was also charged with having in his possession a 9mm pistol while not being the holder of a firearm licence and illegally having three live 9mm rounds of ammunition. He pleaded not guilty to those two charges.
Is was also alleged that the defendant on same date, while at Kitty, Georgetown, and while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, robbed Ershad Mohammed of a haversack worth $40,000, an HP laptop valued $120,000, US$500 and $50,000 in cash.
Franklin was also charged with using a gun to rob Brindsley Thom of two cell phones, valued at $75,000, a brown wallet worth $8,000, along with $50,000 in cash and US$600.
He was not required to plead to the two armed robbery charges and was remanded to prison. All five matters were then adjourned until November 14, 2022.
Franklin appeared physically before Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, where he was slapped with six other charges.
It was alleged that Franklin on August 18, at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD), abducted Joshua Singh with intent to cause him to be secretly confined. It is also allege that Franklin robbed Singh of an Allion motorcar, valued at over $1.7 million, a cellphone worth $70,000 and $40,000 in cash.
The man was further charged with robbing Anand Ramdio of $73,000 in articles while at Ogle on the ECD. It was also alleged that the accused robbed Jenny Mingo of $293,000 in items at Red Road, Sophia.
Furthermore, it was alleged that on June 12, at Sparendaam Housing Scheme, while being armed with a cutlass, he robbed Royston Adams of over $1.4 million in items, including a Taurus pistol and matching ammunition.
The final charge against Franklin states that on the same date at Sophia, Greater Georgetown, he robbed Gregory Grey of over $80,000 in phones, gold jewellery and other items.
Magistrate Liverpool also remanded the man to prison and the matters were adjourned until October 7, 2022.
A statement from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had said that anti-crime patrols were immediately dispatched through the streets of Georgetown after they were alerted about a robbery on Lamaha Street two Thursdays ago, which was said to have been committed by a white Allion car bearing registration number PSS 2705.
According to the police, one of the patrols observed the car driving along the Agricola Access Road and as a rank tried to intercept the vehicle, it drove off, resulting in a high speed chase between the police and the suspects in the car.
When the car turned on Hunter Street, upon approaching Mandela Avenue, the driver lost control and crashed into the northern barriers. Ranks then tried to approach the crashed vehicle but observed four men running away while loud explosions, suspected to be gunshots were heard coming from their direction, which resulted in a shootout with the suspects and the police.
Another rank shortly after arrived and carried out a search on the area. The search led to the discovery of Franklin, who was seen lying on northern parapet bleeding from his injuries, while Andrew Newyear, another suspect, was seen lying in a yard also with injuries. Newyear succumbed to his injuries a day after the shootout, while Franklin was hospitalized but was subsequently discharged and brought before the courts.
A further search was carried in the area where Emmanuel Hale and Hamza Samuels were seen hiding in a yard. Hale and Samuels were charged last Monday with multiple crimes, including some of the offences with which Franklin has been charged.
