Latest update April 4th, 2025 12:14 AM
Man wrongfully imprisoned for armed robbery finally freed
-but where is the real accused?
Desmond Junior Lewis will have a good Christmas after all.
Crime Chief Lyndon Alves confirmed that Lewis was released from the Lusignan Prison on the advice of the Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
Police said that the OPR had established that the 36-year-old was mistakenly jailed for six-years, in the place of 19-year-old robbery accused Junior Lewis.
Mr. Lewis has already served almost two months of the six-year sentence. Information suggests that his family will be taking legal action.
FREED: Desmond Junior Lewiss
The real accused, whose sentence was handed down in his absence, remains at large.
Desmond Junior Lewis was jailed on October 18, last, after police arrested him in Sophia during a series of police raids dubbed “Operation Restore Order.”
A police release had stated that when profiled, “Lewis was found to have been sentenced in absentia to six years on two counts of armed robbery committed in ‘A’ Division.”
Mr. Lewis was reportedly taken straight to prison following his arrest. It appears that no attempt was made to verify that he was the man police wanted.
The blunder reportedly came to light after his mother, who was living overseas, came to Guyana and filed a complaint with the OPR.
One of the ranks who had arrested Junior Lewis, the real accused, reportedly confirmed that Desmond Junior Lewis was not Junior Lewis.
Junior Lewis, of Pike Street, Kitty, was charged in November 2017 for two armed robberies, which were allegedly committed on a couple who were near the seawall.
On November 4, 2017, the unemployed teen robbed Davina Persaud in Kingston, of one Samsung Galaxy mobile phone. On the same date, in Kingston, Junior Lewis allegedly also robbed Vishal Mohan of a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and $2,000 cash.
The teen pleaded not guilty and was remanded. However, police sources said that he subsequently managed to secure bail, but never returned to court to face the charges. He was later jailed in his absence.
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