WELL-KNOWN New Amsterdam, Berbice barber Elroy Trellis alias ‘Bamboo’ had a rape charge against him dismissed on Wednesday. Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo, sitting in New Amsterdam Court, threw out the case after the alleged victim failed to make an appearance, almost two years since the reported incident.
Trellis was charged with having forced sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old secondary school student on December 2, 2009 and on January 6 and 13, 2010, respectively.
He had denied the allegations and was, initially, refused bail but, following a petition by defence counsel, Charrandas Persaud in the High Court, Justice Winston Patterson granted the accused pre-trial liberty on $75,000 surety and ordered that he make no contact with the virtual complainant.
On his first court appearance, in January 2010, Trellis was remanded to prison after Police Assistant Superintendent, Fizal Karimbaksh objected, citing the nature, gravity and prevalence of the offence.
The prosecutor cited the health of the accused but was prevented from making further unsupported statements after the lawyer submitted that no medical evidence was presented to support the objection by the prosecutor.