Daniel Paris, a 23-year-old gold miner of West Coast Demerara, was on Thursday afternoon served an 18-month jail term after he pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
It is alleged that on April 28, 2017, at High Street, Georgetown, Paris robbed Virtual Complainant (VC) Paul Ramadayal of one Samsung cellular phone and some $50,000 in cash, a total value of $194,000, and inflicted personal violence to the person of the VC during the course of the robbery.
hands of a prisoner on prison bars
A second charge against Paris read that on March 13, 2017, while armed with an offensive weapon, that is to say a knife, he robbed Boaz Jacobs of a Blu cellular phone and a mountain bicycle, a total value of $33,000.
The defendant chose not to waste the court’s time by opting to enter a guilty plea with respect to the first charge, while denying the latter.
According to Police (with regard to the first offence), the VC, on the day in question, was on his way to work when he was accosted by the defendant who wrestled him to the ground and demanded that he hand over his valuables. A fearful Ramadayal complied and the perpetrator made good his escape.
The victim filed a report hereafter and positively identified the defendant at the Ruimveldt Police Station where he, under caution, admitted to the crime, reportedly telling investigators that he had already sold the smartphone.
Moore told the court that the cash was not recovered.
The defendant when given a chance to speak by the Magistrate apologised for his actions, telling the court that he lived with his girlfriend and their five-month-old child and was the sole bread-winner of the family.
In objecting to bail for the second charge, Prosecutor Moore disclosed that the accused had matters of similar nature being investigated at the Ruimveldt Police Station and requested that Paris be remanded pending the outcome of the matter.
Considering the above circumstances and the fact that the defendant did not waste the court’s time, the Chief Magistrate sentenced Paris to 18 months behind bars for the first charge, while refusing him bail on the second charge for which he was remanded to prison.
He is expected to return to court on June 9, 2017.
