THIRTY-FOUR-year-old Terrence McLean was on Thursday jailed for three years for attempting to rob the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) in the name of a notorious terrorist group – the Islamic State. McLean appeared before City Magistrate Judy Latchman and pleaded guilty to the charge, which alleged that on Monday, June 28 at GBTI on Regent Street, he demanded for himself the sum of $10M from Dahana Ramjist with intent to steal said amount.
The unrepresented man showed no signs of remorse and was seen sleeping in the prisoner’s dock before his matter was called. When he was questioned by the magistrate for his reasons for attempting to rob the bank, the man smiled and said: “They [employees] should have handed over the money because if a next person come in with a bomb they all will die.” Surprisingly, the man further expressed disappointment in the way the Bank handled the security threat and deemed it “flawed.”
According to the prosecution’s facts, which was read by Assistant Superintendent of Police Vishnu Hunt, on Monday, June 28 around 9:20am, the accused entered the bank and requested to speak with the manager.
McLean then handed over a note to Ramjist (the officer in charge of the bank card centre) stating “ISIS- there is a bomb in this bag, give us $10M or you all die,” after demanding the cash.
Immediately, an alarm was raised and the police were summoned to the location. Upon the police’s arrival, McLean dropped a haversack he had in his possession and shouted “Allah Akhbar”. The bag was subsequently searched by ranks of the force, but nothing of evidential value was found other than some documents.
The matter was adjourned for a few minutes by the magistrate, while she made her decision pertaining to McLean’s sentencing. The defendant however used the few minutes to continue sleeping as he lay stretched out on the prisoner’s bench in the docks. The magistrate then re-convened court and sentenced the unemployed defendant to the maximum penalty attached to the charge, after considering the seriousness of the offence, the manner in which the money was demanded and the impact of the incident on society and the bank’s staff.