Inmate accused of setting Police lock-ups on fire remanded

An East La Penitence, Georgetown vendor currently on remand for attempted robbery was also arraigned last week for setting fire to the Brickdam Police Station lock-ups.
When he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, 23-year-old Stephon Howard was further remanded to prison.
Particulars of the charge to which the defendant pleaded not guilty, stated that on July 16 at the Brickdam Police Station, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to two mattresses.
The Police in a report had stated that Howard was questioned in relation to the fire during which he told ranks that upon entering the lock-ups, he discovered a lighter and a piece of toilet paper inside of the cell, and due to mosquitoes biting him, he lit the piece of toilet paper around 06:40h and placed same on the cell door.
He added that about 10 minutes later, he realised that the toilet paper had fallen on the mattress on the floor of the cell, and the mattress ignited into flames, which he successfully extinguished by throwing water from a plastic bottle he had.
In 2021, the Brickdam Police Station was burnt to the ground after a “frustrated” prisoner allegedly set fire to the decades-old structure. The alleged arsonist, Clarence Greene, was charged and placed before the court. That matter is still ongoing. On July 18, Howard appeared in court on an attempted robbery charge.
It is alleged that on June 29 at Norton Street, Georgetown, Howard, while armed with a gun and a knife, attempted to rob Jermaine Simon. The accused has denied this charge.
In objecting to bail for the accused, the Police prosecutor cited the serious nature and prevalence of the offence. The court was told that the attempted robbery on Simon was captured on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and that there are also eyewitnesses. After considering the prosecution’s objections, the presiding Magistrate remanded Howard to prison.
Meanwhile, this is not Howard’s first run-in with the law. He was previously charged with armed robbery. In 2021, Howard and another man, Sean Dos Santos, were acquitted of the murder of Abdool Fazal Saheed after a jury returned unanimous not-guilty verdicts. Saheed was shot dead during a robbery in 2017.