Three men were remanded to prison on Thursday after they appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty, to answer to joint charges of possession of guns and ammunition without being licenced.
Teon Alleyne,30, of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara; Andre Pollymore, 24, of Lamaha Gardens, and Lloyd Roberts, 35, of North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, all of whom are miners in the interior of Guyana, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The charges stated that on January 22, at John Street, Campbellville, the three men had in their possession an AK-47 rifle, 60 rounds of ammunition and a 9 mm pistol with 20 rounds of matching ammunition, without being holders of a firearm licence. The trio pleaded not guilty to the four charges when they were read by the Magistrate.
The accused were represented by Attorney Nigel Hughes, who argued that the said items were not found at the residence of the number three accused, as it is alleged. However, according to Police Prosecutor Sean Blackman, Roberts had reportedly admitted to the Police upon his arrest his guilt, saying, “I am responsible for everything, I rented this house”.
Attorney Hughes argued that the other two accused have no prior convictions, and given the prosecution’s sole reliance on the alleged oral confession of Roberts and the absence of any written statement, he saw no grounds for objections to bail.
Bail was denied and the presiding magistrate remanded the men to prison until February 14, 2017, when the trial will proceed at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Roberts, along with the two others, was arrested on Sunday evening after Police swooped down on a house at John Street.
Roberts and the others were known to the Police, since they had previous brushes with the law. Roberts was listed as the prime suspect in the shooting to death of 19-year-old Ryan “Harry” Sergeant outside the Rio Night Club. According to Police sources, he has been implicated in several armed robberies as well as murders.
In 2010, Roberts, who was a minibus driver at the time, was charged with the double murder of Romeo De Agrella and Clint De Agrella, who were killed in 2009 at Iron Punt, North West District. The charges were dismissed; however, soon after he was freed, he was rearrested for the murders of political activist Ronald Waddell and former boxing coach Donald Allison.
Waddell was murdered on January 31, 2006 outside his Subryanville, Georgetown home.
Bullets rang out, hitting him in his back, face and other parts of his body. Allison was shot dead outside the boxing gym in Agricola, Greater Georgetown.
Meanwhile, A Division (Georgetown and East Bank Demerara) Commander Clifton Hicken told reporters on Thursday morning that the Police were committed to ridding society of all illegal guns and ammunition.
