The two men who robbed a Corentyne, Berbice Chinese supermarket were on Friday remanded on several robbery charges when they appeared at the Albion Magistrate’s Court.
Shawn Thompson, 23, of Market Street, Rose Hall Town; and Daniel Grant, 20, of
Lot 55 First Street, Williamsburg, a spray gang operator attached to the Albion Estate, were slapped with a total of seven charges.
It is alleged that Thompson on December 31, 2016, at Nigg Village, Corentyne, Berbice, while being in the company of another and armed with a firearm, robbed Devendra Narine of a cellphone.
Grant is accused of robbing Permaul Latchno of one Jialing motorcycle valued at $160,000, a DVD player and one cellular phone at Nigg Village on December 31, 2016. Thompson is also charged with robbing 36-year-old Huang Jun Xiong of Good Life Supermarket, located at Lot 23 “B” Belvedere Public Road, Corentyne on January 10, of $500,000 in cash.
Grant, on that same day, is alleged to have robbed 36-year-old Zhang Bi Hang of Good Life Supermarket of one gold chain, one gold hand band and Digicel phone cards, totalling $1 million.
Further, Thompson on June 6, 2016, at Market Street, Rose Hall, made use of threatening language towards Gary Batson. Magistrate Marissa Mettelholzer placed him on a one-year bond to keep the peace after he pleaded guilty to that charge.
Police Prosecutor, Inspector Orin Joseph objected to the two men being granted bail based on the gravity and nature of the offence. He told the court that the Police are still searching for the firearm which was used in the two robberies.
According to Joseph, both Grant and Thompson were positively identified from CCTV footage obtained from Good Life Supermarket.
He also said that one of the victims in the Old Year’s Day robbery at Nigg Village knew the accused for most of his life and identified him at an identification (ID) parade. Joseph argued that the court should refuse bail to both accused since the Police were able to recover a DVD player and a motorcycle which can be linked to the accused.
He requested three weeks to begin the trial. As such, Magistrate Mettelholzer remanded the men until January 30.
According to reports, at about 20:30h on Tuesday, the two bandits entered the Good Life Supermarket situated at Belvedere Village, Corentyne and carried out a daring robbery.
At the time of the robbery, three Chinese nationals who operate the supermarket were on the premises. Four customers were also in the supermarket when the bandits entered. They took away $400,000 local currency and US$1000, along with cellular phones and other valuables.
Meanwhile, Thompson, who had appeared in court previously as a juvenile and was found guilty on a break and enter charge, was sent to the New Opportunity Corp to serve time. (Andrew Carmichael: Guyana Times)
