Female UG bomb threat suspect further remanded

Feb 19, 2019 News

One week after Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan remanded a 25-year-old student of the University of Guyana (UG) to prison, after it was alleged that she made several bomb threats to the tertiary educational institution, she was further remanded yesterday by another magistrate.
The woman, Sheneza Dianne Jaffarally, a sales consultant at Yellow Guyana, and of Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, appeared yesterday before Magistrate Rushell Liverpool in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court and was refused bail again.

Charged: Sheneza Dianne Jaffarally

Jaffarally was charged under the Telecommunication Act. She pleaded not guilty to the charge, which alleged that on February 5, last, at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, she sent by means of a public telecommunication system, for the purpose of causing needless anxiety to the staff and students of the University of Guyana, a message which she knew to be false. She is being represented by Attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat.
On her first court appearance before the Chief Magistrate, Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had objected to bail being granted to the defendant on the ground of the serious nature of the allegation. Secondly, he noted that the allegation has the potential to spread public terror and that there is another investigation ongoing in relation to a similar allegation against the said university.
The prosecutor added that if bail was granted to the defendant, there is a likelihood that she would tamper with the witnesses and the investigation.
The magistrate after listening to both sides remanded the woman to prison on the ground of public safety. She was instructed to make her next court appearance on February 25.
The woman’s family had released a statement, which reads “… we wish to categorically deny the allegation levelled against her and will strive to undertake every possible means to ensure that her name is cleared of these claims”.
Her family believes that she is being used as a scapegoat, and that the leaking of her name is indicative of an ulterior motive.
The incident, which caused UG to shut down for a short time, also resulted in the institution ramping up security.
The threat followed others made against the School of the Nations, Queen’s College and The Bishops’ High School.