Land Court judge robbery accused to know fate today

Jun 17, 2016 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

By Feona Morrison

Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul will today decide the fate of five men charged with robbing and feloniously

Damien Millington

wounding Land Court judge Nicola Pierre and her husband last July, at their home in the gated community of Felicity, East Coast Demerara.
Warren Mc Kenzie, 22, of 18 Brutus Street, Agricola; Damien Millington, 22, of 118 Caesar Street, Agricola; Nicholas Narine, 18, also of Caesar Street, Agricola; Premnauth Samaroo and Anthony David, 28, of 63 Hadfield Street, Stabroek, are jointly facing five charges.
The first charge alleges that on July 9, 2015 at Montrose, East Coast Demerara, the men being in the company of others and armed with a handgun, robbed the judge’s husband Mohamed Chand of five wrist watches, a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, US $8,000, a wedding ring, four Oakley sunglasses and one leather wallet.
The second charge alleges that the intruders robbed Pierre at gunpoint on the same day. She was allegedly relieved of several gold rings, diamond jewellery, a clump of gold, and a quantity of gem stones, among other items, all totaling about $1M.
In addition, the men are also charged with discharging a loaded firearm at Ron Peters, a security guard on duty at the Land Court judge’s home when the robbery occurred.
They are also accused of feloniously wounding Pierre and her husband.
The accused have been on remand at the Camp Street Prison for almost 11 months awaiting the completion of trial in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
The trial began on January 11.
Attorney Nigel Hughes represented the prosecution, while Attorney Adrian Thompson defended Samaroo;

Nicholas Narine

Narine and David. Several police and civilian witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution. Among them were Head of Major Crimes Unit, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mitchell Caesar, the land court judge and her husband.
Also testifying was the couple’s security guard.
During their testimonies, Pierre, Chand and Peters positively identified four of the defendants (Samaroo, Millington, Narine and McKenzie) as the ones who were part of the robbery/home invasion.
At the close of the defendants’ case, their lawyers asked the court to find them not guilty of the offences. Thompson maintained that his clients had no involvement in the robbery since they were all at home when it took place.
The Defence Counsel was very vocal in accusing police of framing David. Thompson also argued that no proper descriptions of his clients were given by the victims and pointed out that the identification parades, done via Skype video call, were flawed.
However, Prosecutor Hughes asked that the defendants be convicted for the crimes.
Hughes submitted that the men should be found culpable of the crimes because they acted in consort with each other. He said that the Land Court judge, her husband and the security guard all testified that the defendants were armed with guns.
“We have three witnesses who clearly said that these several persons all had weapons…and not one

Anthony David

weapon; it was more than one weapon. So we had the guard with the gun to the head. We had Ms. Pierre and Mr. Chand in the house who said that these people had weapons because they were assaulted with the weapons, and we had Mr. Ron Peters who said that he was shot at by somebody,” Hughes asserted.
According to reports, heavily-armed bandits inflicted a brutal beating on the Land Court Judge and her husband after overpowering an on-duty Special Constable and storming the couple’s home on the day in question.
The couple was attacked while asleep. They were gun-butted into unconsciousness after the men, gained entry to their home via a window.
The robbers carted off a small safe containing US currency, jewellery, and a suitcase containing other valuables. But they were forced to drop their loot after coming under gunfire from a security guard who was stationed at a businessman’s home nearby. Pierre sustained a broken jaw and other injuries, while her husband received severe injuries to an eye. He has since lost the eye. The couple was forced to seek medical attention overseas.
It was reported that McKenzie was shot after police raided a house in Craig, East Bank Demerara. Several men were inside the house that came under heavy gunfire from lawmen. As a result wanted man Rolston Morrison, also known as ‘Saddam’, was killed.
During the raid, lawmen found a gun in the house that matched the weapon used in the robbery based on ballistic tests.

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