Botched Republic Bank robbery: Lawyer asks court to dismiss case against client

Attorney-at-Law George Thomas, who is representing the final accused on trial for the 2017 attempted robbery on Republic Bank’s Water Street, Georgetown branch, wants the charge against his client dismissed, and has requested additional time to layover a submission of no case to answer.

His additional time request was granted on Monday by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly before whom his client, Keron Saunders, is on trial for the offence. Particulars of the charge against Saunders of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, allege that on July 4, 2017, while in the company of others and armed with a gun, he attempted to rob the bank.
Following the close of the prosecution’s case, Saunder’s co-accused were freed after the Magistrate upheld no-case submissions made by their lawyers. Those freed were former Police Constables Anfernee Blackman of Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown; Gladston George of Princes Street, Lodge, Georgetown; and former Republic Bank employee Shawn Grimmond of Kitty, Georgetown.
However, the no-case submission made by Saunder’s counsel was overruled and he was called upon to lead a defence. In doing so, he elected to give unsworn testimony. He will return to court on September 27, when his lawyer will layover the submission. Then, it is expected that the Magistrate will further adjourn the matter pending her ruling.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, has since filed an appeal against the decision of the Magistrate to free George, Blackman, and Grimmond. The DPP contended that the Magistrate’s decision is wholly erroneous, and has moved to the Court of Appeal to have it quashed.
Another former employee of the bank, Jamal Haynes, was also slapped with charges of attempting to commit a robbery and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. He pleaded guilty to the charges at his first court appearance back in 2017 and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
During the attempted robbery, 23-year-old Elton Wray, an agronomist, was shot dead by Police. He had been a beneficiary of a Government of Guyana scholarship to study in China and had graduated with a degree in agronomy. At the time of his death, he was serving the second of his five-year obligatory contract. It was reported that Haynes and Grimmond knew that businesses would have deposited substantial amounts of cash into the chutes through night deposits.
As such, a plan was hatched for the robbers to grab that money which would have been emptied into a canister by a female employee. However, things went awry when their accomplices broke into the bank without knowing that they had received a text message from Grimmond, who was already at work informing them to hold off since the employee who was supposed to open the canister was not at work.
After receiving reports of the robbery, Police responded promptly. The bandits engaged the officers in a shootout, which resulted in the death of Wray. Haynes was also shot as he attempted to evade the lawmen. Saunders subsequently surrendered and was taken into Police custody.
The others were all implicated in the robbery by Haynes and were later arrested. Police said that three high-powered pistols were recovered from the crime scene. (G1)