-bandits cart of 21 pennyweights of gold

A GOLDSMITH who operates a small business at Lot 103 Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, was injured during an armed robbery on Wednesday when two bandits pounced on him, carting off about 21 pennyweights of gold worth $168,000, belonging to customers.

Surijpaul ‘Tayo’ Persaud, 40, who is a licensed firearm holder, discharged three shots at the bandits as they fled after robbing him.
One of the two men, he said, was armed with a handgun which he pulled out from his crotch when he entered his shop and discharged a round in his direction.
Persaud had stashed his gun in a safe place in the workshop and was only able to retrieve it after the bandits were on their way out of the yard yesterday morning.
He told the Guyana Chronicle that about 11:20 hrs he was in his workshop when a man came in and asked the cost of putting a hook on a silver chain which was gold covered and as he was examining the chain an accomplice joined him.
Persaud said the men then demanded the jewellery and began beating him on the head and in the face with a metal file he had on the table in his workshop, after first lifting up his jersey and also searching his pockets.
He stated that he had four gold chains, one pair of gold earrings and a gold ring he was working on when the bandits showed up and $200 in his pockets which he gave them.
The gunmen also searched the workshop for valuables and took away his Samsung cell phone within the space of a few minutes. They managed to escape on a motorcycle they had parked a short distance away.
Persaud, who resides in Diamond, East Bank Demerara, had been operating the business for the past 20 years and this is the third robbery he has suffered.
A friend, who was there at the time, was made to lie face down on ground as the robbers relieved the goldsmith of his valuables.
The police showed up after the robbery with many guns and questioned the goldsmith about the incident as he gave a description of the men.
Persaud was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for a medical examination and later gave a full statement to the police.
The armed robbery has left Persaud, a father of two, somewhat traumatised. However, he is urging all youths to put down their guns and seek gainful employment. He added that he is just an individual who is ‘hustling’ to support his family.

(By Michel Outridge)