A father of five was Wednesday sentenced to ten years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty two armed robberies charges and illegal gun and ammunition possession charges.
Raheem Abdul, a vendor of Broad Street, Charlestown, pleaded guilty to the charges when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown’ Magistrates’ Courts.
He told the court: “I went and borrowed the gun to rob the persons in order to provide for my five children, I apologise for what I did, I was just taking a chance, please be lenient with me.”
The first charge alleged that on August 17, 2019 at Lombard Street, Georgetown, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, he robbed Amos Ramcharan of $70,000 in cash and a phone valued at $42,000.
It was further alleged that on the same day and at the same location while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, he robbed another person of a phone valued at $39,000.
The third charge stated that on August 17, 2019 at Broad Street, Charlestown, he had in his possession three live rounds of .38 ammunition when he was not the owner of a firearm licence enforced at the time.
The last charge stated that on the August 17, 2019 at Broad Street, Charlestown, he had in his possession a .38 revolver when he was not the owner of a firearm licence enforced at the time.
Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield indicated to the court that the defendant and victims are known to each other since they ply the same trade as vendors on Lombard Street, Georgetown.
The prosecutor then went on to tell the court that on the day in question at around 03:30hrs, the victims were plying their trade on Lombard Street, when Abdul and two other individuals who were armed with handguns approached them.
The men pointed the guns at the victims’ heads and demanded the they hand over whatever valuables they had in their possession.
After handing over their valuables, the court heard that that Abdul began demanding more money from Ramcharan and placed the gun to the man’s head before beginning to count to five. In fear he then led Abdul to his bus and handed over a purse containing cash and documents.
After retrieving the items, Abdul along with his accomplices made their good escape on bicycles.
The matters were then reported and, following an investigation, the police went to Broad Street, Georgetown where they made contact with the defendant, a search was then conducted and the stolen articles along with the gun and matching rounds were found in his possession.
He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody where he was positively identified by the victims as the person who robbed them.
Magistrate McLennan sentenced Abdul to three years each on both robbery charges. He was then sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined $50,000 for the illegal firearm possession charge.
However, Abdul will not serve the 10 year sentence, since the sentences will run concurrently so he will only be spending an estimated five years behind bars. (Story by Oma Pierre)
