Armed robbers, hijackers each slapped with 9-year jail sentence

The Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts on Monday found three men guilty of abduction and armed robbery in relation to a spate of armed robberies in Georgetown and on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).
Hamza Samuels, called “Bad Coolie”, a 23-year-old resident of D Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown; Rawle Franklin called “Rawle Dog”, 35, of Sparendaam Housing Scheme, ECD; and 19-year-old Emmanuel Hale, also of D Field Sophia, were all sentenced on Monday.
Police had stated that on August 18, 2022, at Ogle, ECD, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, they robbed Madan Ramdeo of a cell phone and cash totalling $73,000; and on the same day at Red Road Sophia, they robbed Jenny Mingo of $293,000 in items.

Also, on the same day at Vryheid’s Lust, ECD, they robbed Joshua Singh of his Toyota Allion motor car valued at $1.7M, along with a cell phone and cash. They were also found guilty of abducting Singh during the robbery.
On each of the three counts of armed robbery, they were each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment but one year was deducted for the time they spent in pre-trial detention. Each of them was also handed a five-year prison term on the abduction charge.
The jail terms will run concurrently which means that their cumulative sentence is nine years.
The sentences were imposed by Magistrate Ruschelle Liverpool while Police Sergeant Visram Ramjattan prosecuted the matters. They were initially charged with the crime in August 2022 and were remanded to prison after entering pleas of not guilty.
Samuels, Franklin, and Hale were among four bandits — two of whom were shot, and one of whom had died — who were nabbed by Police on August 18, 2022, during a dramatic chase that led to the rescue of a taxi driver whom they had abducted.
According to Police reports from the incident, ranks at the Brickdam Police Station Operations Room had received a telephone call that a white Toyota Allion with several occupants had committed a robbery on Lamaha Street, Georgetown.
As a result, anti-crime patrols were alerted, and one of the patrols observed the motor car in question driving along the Agricola Access Road, Greater Georgetown. That anti-crime patrol attempted to intercept the vehicle as it reached the Two Brothers Gas Station in Eccles, EBD, but it sped away, resulting in the patrol pursuing it.
The Police related that the car was travelling at a fast rate of speed when it suddenly made a turn onto Hunter Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, to head in the direction of Mandela Avenue. The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, and it collided with the barriers and came to a stop on the corner of Hunter Street and Mandela Avenue.
Thereupon, four males exited the car and began to run away from the scene. It was reported that shots were fired by the men as they attempted to escape, and the Police responded by discharging rounds in the men’s direction.
A search was later conducted in the area, and Franklin was seen lying on the parapet bleeding from injuries he had sustained, while another accomplice, Andrew Newyear, was seen lying in a nearby yard with injuries as well. Newyear died a few days later.
A 9mm pistol with a magazine containing three live rounds of matching ammunition was found at the scene. Meanwhile, the cops also disclosed that while at the scene, they heard sounds coming from the trunk of the car, and upon inspecting, found Joshua Singh.
The car used by the bandits had been hijacked from Singh, a driver attached to the Shamo Taxi Base at Vryheid’s Lust Railway Embankment, EBD.
Singh told investigators he was in the driver’s seat of his uncle’s car, PSS 2705, when he was approached by three men, one of whom pointed a gun at him and ordered him out of the car.
He said he complied, and the men ordered him to go into the trunk of the car, where they locked him in. The taxi driver recalled the vehicle driving for some time before he felt the car crashing into something, after which there were loud explosions, suspected to be gunshots.
After his arrest, Hale reportedly told the Police that he and the others had gone on a robbery spree in Georgetown and were reportedly heading on the East Bank of Demerara in search of more targets when they were intercepted by the Police.