Man who damaged NA banks remanded; court orders psychiatric evaluation

A man who went on a rampage last Sunday, smashing windows and doors at two commercial banks in New Amsterdam after damaging two ATMs, has been remanded at the prison.
25-year-old Azore Joseph of Angoys Avenue, New Amsterdam, appeared at the Reliance Magistrates Court before Magistrate Michelle Matthias, accused of damaging infrastructure at Republic Bank and Scotia Bank, both situated on Strand, New Amsterdam.
Joseph, when asked, told the court he did not know his address.
Attorney at law Akim Lampkin, representing Joseph, told the court that Joseph was suffering from a psychiatric condition. According to the attorney, this started about four months ago when the accused was living in Georgetown. He was subsequently transferred to New Amsterdam.
The Magistrate said that a psychiatric evaluation will be needed before moving forward, but Police prosecutor Sergeant Mark Phillips asked the court to remand the accused.
Attorney Lampkin interjected, saying that he does not know how beneficial it would be since there is no need to have the accused remanded. He related to the court that after the incident on Sunday and videos of the accused circulated on social media, family members of Joseph made contact with the Police and assisted with his arrest.
Lampkin pleaded with the court not to remand the accused but rather to send him for a psychiatric evaluation.
However, the Police prosecutor told the court that the National Psychiatric Hospital would release the patient after the evaluation. Sergeant Stevens called on the court to read the charge but not to have the accused enter a plea.
Magistrate Matthias said that when the charge is read to Joseph, he must be able to understand the charge. Hence, she was not going to be reading the charge to him.
Magistrate Matthias said whatever is done there needs to be controlled.
The Defence Attorney, after informing the court that Joseph is a construction worker, said he has a family member who is a part of the Guyana Police Force and that he was currently living with his mother.
Joseph’s mother, Gloria Simon, who was in court, said that her son had been living in Georgetown for some time, and about three months ago she was informed that he was behaving abnormally. As a result, she went and brought him home.
However, she has never gotten an evaluation of his condition.
The Magistrate remanded the accused and ordered that he be taken for a psychiatric evaluation.
He will have to return to court on November 6. The matter has been transferred to the New Amsterdam Magistrates’ Court.
Meanwhile, Police had reported that between 09:30h and 09:50h on Sunday, four glass windows, two glass doors, and two ATMs were destroyed at Republic Bank, and eight glass windows and two glass doors were damaged at Scotia Bank.