MOHAMED Rafeek Hamid (no address given) was refused bail by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Friday when he answered to an armed robbery charge in her court.The unrepresented defendant denied that on Thursday, April 10, at Kingston, Georgetown, being armed with a knife, he robbed Rehanna Benjamin of one Nokia Smart cellular, one BLU cellular phone, one shoulder bag and cash $9,000, together valued at $114,000. 

Police Inspector Michael Grant, prosecuting, said that the virtual complainant and a friend were walking on the seawall with the articles in her handbag when the defendant approached her with a knife and demanded that she hand over her bag. The victim refused to give up her belongings, so Hamid pushed her to the ground, and when she fell, he snatched the bag and escaped, but an alarm was raised.

The police in the area responded, and caught the defendant with the articles in his possession.

The prosecutor successfully objected to bail by citing the seriousness and prevalence of the offence and the fact that violence was used in the commission of the offence.

Hamid was remanded to prison, and the case was transferred before Magistrate Faith McGusty for trial on April 29.
AROUND THE COURTS With Geeta Rampersaud