…cops, others deny charges, remanded to prison

JAMAL HAYNES one of the men who attempted to rob Republic Bank just over a week ago was on Friday jailed for six years,0 and four other suspects including two policemen and an ex-staff of the bank were remanded to prison when they all appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The men were all jointly charged with attempt to commit a felony of which Haynes pleaded guilty. In addition, Haynes faced five other charges and Keron Saunders who was arrested on the day of the robbery another two.

The robbery which generated heated public discourse had shocked many due to the fact that one of the bandits, Elton Wray who was shot a killed was a graduate with a degree in agronomy and held a respectable job at a government agency.
Haynes, 24, of Wortmanville, Georgetown, was also a staffer at the bank at the time of the robbery he has since been dismissed. The other suspects are police constables: Gladstone George, 24, of Mocha, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and Anfernee Blackman, 21, of Lane Avenue, Georgetown. Shawn Grimmond, 23, of Kitty Georgetown was a staff at the bank.
It is alleged that all five of the suspects on July 4, 2017 at Water Street, Georgetown, attempted to rob Republic Bank. Haynes pleaded guilty to the charge while the four others pleaded not guilty. George’s attorney, Roger Yearwood, stated that his client was not found on the scene of the robbery nor was he found with a firearm. The attorney also stated that George is not at flight risk, and is interested in clearing his name. Grimmond’s Attorney Dexter Todd stated that his client has no prior conviction and as such has no pending matters in court. The Attorney also stated that Grimmond was not aware of what was going on until he heard gun shots. He stated too that his client was not found in possession of a firearm.

Prosecution
Police Prosecutor Bess, objected to bail for all five men due to the nature and gravity of the offence. He also stated that if the police had not gone to the scene in a timely manner the men would have robbed the bank of millions of dollars.
According to the prosecutor, on July 4, 2017, at about 07:30 hours the police received a report of a robbery in progress at Republic Bank. The police arrived at the scene and were confronted with gunshots from the perpetrators, which resulted in the death of one of the suspected perpetrators who was shot and killed. Haynes subsequently held Thendukar

Singh (an employee of the Republic Bank) hostage to leave the bank and as he reached the arcade, he shoved the hostage and ran away. Haynes was then arrested and interviewed.
“Yes mam…my friend, the deceased that die…has a lot of information about the bank. The people that he included in the robbery, I do not know who was the driver of the vehicle because he disguised his self with a t-shirt and a rag around his face. He, the driver is the same person that give us the guns on the morning of the robbery. I thought myself and the now deceased friend Mr. Wray and his cousin, Keron Saunders was going to rob somebody that had a large sum of money in the ATM. It wasn’t until we went into the ATM and he shut the door that was when I was aware that we were going into the bank to rob the night safe. That’s it.” said Haynes when he was asked if there was anything he would like to say since he pled guilty to the charge.
Haynes was also faced with five other charges. It is alleged that on July 4, 2017, at Robb Street Georgetown, Haynes discharged a loaded firearm at Police Constable Leon Joseph with intent to cause bodily harm. Haynes pleaded not guilty to the offence. It is also alleged that on July 3, 2017, at Sparendaam East Coast Demerara, armed along with three others Haynes stole from Ryan Myers: $19,000, one motor car valued $2,900,000, one cellular phone valued $25,000, totaling $2,944,000. Haynes pleaded not guilty to this offence.

It is alleged that Haynes on July 4, 2017, at Water Street, Georgetown, was found with one 9mm live round of ammunition without being an owner of a license. The ex-clerk of Republic Bank pleaded guilty to this offence. It is alleged that on July 4, 2017, at Rob Street, Georgetown, Haynes had in his possession one 9mm pistol gun without being a holder of a firearm license at the time. Haynes pleaded guilty to the offence. It is also alleged that on July 4, 2017, at Water Street, Georgetown, Haynes unlawfully restricted Thendukar Singh. Haynes pleaded guilty to the offence. According to the Prosecutor, while attempting to make an escape, the accused returned fire at the police officer and was shot. The police found the accused hiding in one of the arcade’s stall whereby a search was

conducted on him and the 9mm live round of ammunition was found on him and the 9mm pistol was found on the ground in the arcade. The accused was arrested and confessed to being the holder of the said firearm and ammunition which was found next to him. “My now deceased friend Mr. Wray ran out the bank towards the southern side of the bank. Myself and his cousin, Keron Saunders was still trapped inside the bank. I saw one of my fellow colleagues and I took him hostage with the gun in my hand with no more ammunition. I took him and stand up outside in order for the police to stop shooting, cause I know if I ran outside I would have been shot. When I took him outside and was screaming I am staff do not shoot,” said Haynes. “Why did you have the firearm in your possession?” Magistrate Ann McLennan asked. “De gun I had, de 9mm was given to me by my friend Mr. Wray who stood by the door inside the bank and was shooting outside,” said Haynes. Why was ammunition in your possession? “There were no ammunition because my friend Mr. Wray shoot out all before he run outside. I cannot recall no ammunition being in the gun that I had.” Bail was denied due to the nature and seriousness of the matter by the prosecution.
Haynes was sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to commit a felony which he pleaded guilty to. He was fined $90,000 and was sentenced to four years in prison for having ammunition in his possession and another four years for being armed with a firearm, but will spend four years for these two matters because they will run concurrently. He was also fined $100,000 for unlawfully restraining Singh or will spend six months in prison if he fails to pay the fine. Haynes is expected to return to court on August 10 and August 11, 2017 for those offences that he pled not guilty to.

Meanwhile, Keron Saunders was faced with two other charges.

It is alleged that on July 4, 2017, at Water Street, Georgetown, Saunders had in his possession 10 x 9mm live rounds of firearm ammunition without being a holder of a license at the said time. Saunders pleaded not guilty to the offence. It is also alleged that on the same day he had in his possession a 9mm pistol without being a holder of a firearm licence, which he also pleaded not guilty to. Saunders was represented by attorney- at Law George Thomas, who stated that his client is willing to lodge his passport. The attorney also requested a bail application for his client. However, the prosecutor objected to bail, which was upheld by the Chief Magistrate.
The Prosecutor told the court that Haynes and Saunders had allegedly confessed that Gladstone George was involved and that Blackman supplied them with the guns and that Haynes would have visited Grimmond at about 05:12am the day of the attempted robbery. He also stated that the police are in possession of video footage. Saunders, George, Blackman and Grimmond were all denied bail and were remanded to prison. They are expected to return to court on August 11, 2017.