FOUR of the six remaining men accused of kidnapping 34-year-old Joshua David, called “Bricks,” have been committed to stand trial at the Demerara Criminal Assizes after a city magistrate found sufficient evidence to proceed against them.
Magistrate Annette Singh of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Wayne Barker, Aaron Alleyne, Dwayne Griffith, and Devante Mars.
The ruling paves the way for the matter to be heard before a judge and jury at the Demerara High Court. This was following the conclusion of a preliminary inquiry.
The four men were each granted $500,000 bail pending their trial after their attorney successfully applied on their behalf. The ruling comes days after two other accused in the matter, Osafo Peters and Alpha Poole, were discharged from the proceedings.
The magistrate found that the prosecution had failed to establish sufficient evidence against Peters and Poole to warrant their committal to the High Court. As a result, both men were freed from the charges.
The case initially involved seven accused. Dameion Barlow was committed to stand trial after opting for a paper committal, allowing the magistrate to determine whether sufficient evidence existed based on written depositions rather than oral testimony. However, Barlow died in April after the motor car he was driving collided with a parked truck along Mandela Avenue, Georgetown.
The men are accused of abducting David with the intent of wrongfully and secretly confining him.
David of Lodge, Georgetown was kidnapped on September 26, 2024, from Main Street, Georgetown, with surveillance footage capturing parts of the incident.
Despite extensive searches in areas such as Buxton and the Annandale Backlands on the East Coast of Demerara, authorities have yet to locate him.
The disappearance has drawn considerable public attention, and all seven suspects, previously named in police wanted bulletins, voluntarily turned themselves in.
Police investigations into David’s whereabouts continue as the case progresses.
At their first court appearance before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, each accused was granted $500,000 bail and ordered to surrender their passports and report weekly to the Brickdam Police Station.
With Thursday’s ruling, Barker, Mars, Alleyne, Griffith, will now answer to the charge before the Demerara High Court, while Peters and Poole have been discharged.
Alleyne was charged last September with trafficking 4.5 grams of cannabis and unlawfully possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and magazine while on bail in the David abduction case.
The police prosecutor told the court that the drugs and firearm were found in a bag Alleyne was carrying over his shoulder. He has denied both charges.
