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Defendant maintains was at home when Land Court judge robbed
Damien Millington, one of the five men accused of robbing Land Court judge Nicola Pierre, has maintained that he was at home at the time of the robbery which occurred in the gated community of Felicity, East Coast Demerara on July 9, last.
Damien Millington
Millington, Anthony David, Warren Mc Kenzie, Premnauth Samaroo and Nicholas Narine are jointly facing three charges – two for robbery under-arms committed on Pierre and her husband Mohamed Chand, and another for discharging a loaded firearm at security guard, Ron Peters.
Millington who is unrepresented, chose to give an unsworn statement when he was called on to lead a defence at the continuation of the trial in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
The defendant told Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul that during July 2015 he was at his home located at Lot 118 Caesar Street, Agricola – all the time up until July 13, 2015, when he left to attend a party at a house in Craig, East Bank Demerara.
While at the party, Millington said that he was arrested by two police officers who took him to the Diamond lock-ups for questioning. The defendant told the court that he had no interaction with the officers and was later taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary.
At CID, he stated that he was further questioned by police, but never responded to them.
Millington recalled that he was subsequently escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station and was then taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital for tablets.
“I was then taken back to the Sparendaam Police Station when the police received a call from CID headquarters. They (the police) carry me on an identification parade, but I was never pointed out.”
The defendant related that he was told by an officer that he would have been released after 72 hours had expired. However, Millington said that he was taken to a city court the following day where he was charged and remanded for armed robbery.
The defendant’s sister, Vanessa Millington, was called as a witness. She testified that her brother was at home sleeping when the robbery occurred. The sister stated that on July 13, 2015, her brother left the house to go to a party in Craig. Vanessa Millington pointed out that she told her brother not to go to the party, because her mother did not want him out of the house after 21:00hrs. She recounted that despite her efforts, her brother still insisted on attending the party and assured her that he would return home.
The witness added that a few hours after her cousin called informing that her brother was in the lock-ups. She recounted that she took food for her sibling.
Under cross examination by Special Prosecutor Nigel Hughes, the sister was asked if her brother had left the home prior to July 9, 2015. In response, she said that she could not recall, because she was busy with work.
Hughes questioned the witness as to why she specifically remembered her brother being home on July 8 and July 9, 2015. The young woman explained that her work shift had changed on July 7, 2015 and that she was not pleased with it. She stated that she left home on July 8, 2015 at noon for work and returned home around 22:00hrs when she saw her brother sleeping in a chair.
The prosecutor went on to ask the witness why she did not report to police that her brother was home when the judge was stuck up and robbed.
The witness claimed that she was not aware that she had to do so, and that she does not like police environment.
Vanessa Millington told the prosecutor that she suggested to her mother who works at the Leonora Police Station and other family members to relay the matter to the media, but they refused. She recalled that a few months after her brother was charged, she informed an officer at the Agricola Police Outpost about her brother’s whereabouts that night, but never gave a statement.
Another sister of the defendant will testify today when the matter continues.
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