…shows Judge dry bread supplied by prison
A verdict could soon be handed down in the nine-year-old case chronicling an attempted murder and robbery at the City Mall, following State Counsel Abigail Gibbs closing the prosecution’s case on Wednesday. The matter involves co-accused Marisco George and John Caesar who are standing trial for attempting to murder businesswoman Dhanmattie Phulchand while executing a violent robbery at Reshma’s Collections at City Mall on July 4, 2009.
The defendants both addressed the court telling the Judge, Justice Sandil Kissoon and the 12-member all male jury that they were not guilty of the crime. George via an unsworn statement told jury that she was in the store’s dressing room when she heard a scream and ran out where she witnessed a man lashing Phulchand to her head. She said the man threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone. However, George said when she was later picked up by Police at the park, they asked her where the boy was, and she reportedly told them she did not know what they were talking about.
In her story to the jury, the co-accused also said she was in the Mall looking to purchase jeans and left to get friends to help her select the pair she wanted. She added that after she had seen the woman lying on the floor, she left the Mall without telling anyone as she was sacred. She said she found some friends and told them what occurred and left them and went home. It was when she went to the park that she was picked up by Police. She added that she was assaulted at gunpoint and told they would “beat me like a man”.
Meanwhile, an animated Caesar showed the court two pieces of dry bread, he said he got from the Lusignan Prison. However, during his address to the court, Caesar said he only knew of the crime when he was charged in the Magistrate’s Court in 2010.
He said Police had him sign a statement in relation to a missing cellphone and expressed that even though he was sorry for what happened to Phulchand, he knew nothing about it. Attorneys Damien DaSilva, Brandon DeSantos and Prosecutor Gibbs all presented closing addresses during the Wednesday afternoon session.
It had been reported that Phulchand was attacked when George went to her store and indicated that she wanted to purchase a pair of jeans. George subsequently told the businesswoman that she would get a friend to help her select the jeans. The friend she brought, according to Phulchand, was Caesar, the number two accused, who had worked in a store at the very mall.
After trying on the jeans, George requested a bigger size. However, when Phulchand attempted to get the requested item, she was struck to her head with a heavy object. After realising that it was Ceasar who had allegedly attacked her, Phulchand began to beg but was beaten and left in an unconscious state.
The duo then relieved the woman of US$2000, a mobile phone and $100,000. After the duo left, the woman was found lying on the floor and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was hospitalised for a number of days. She was recalled to the witness box briefly on Wednesday. The case will soon conclude in the High Court as the current session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes comes to an end.
