Eight men and one woman who appeared today in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on several serious charges, were remanded to HMP Dodds by Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant.
Altogether, 18 charges were laid against the group comprising:
• Leopold Alexander Scantlebury, 30, of Orange Hill, St James,
• Stephen Antonio Streeks, 38, of St Matthias, Christ Church,
• Germaine Harte, a 32-year-old cook, of Apartment 2 Pleasant Hall Land, St Matthias, Christ Church,
• Samantha Kimberley Jack, 32, of Brathwaite Gap, Dayrells Road, Christ Church,
• brothers Jermaine Jamal Bynoe, 28, and Keshane Jabarri Kezal Bynoe, 20, of Sandbox Avenue, Bayville, St Michael,
• Kyle Tyrone Hamblin, 20, of Jessamy Avenue, St Michael,
• Jamar Sylvester Prescott, 27, of Church Hill, Christ Church
• Omar Jamal Maynard, 27 of Grazettes Main Road, St Michael,
Speaking inside the packed courtroom, Station Sergeant Irvin Kellman urged the court not to grant bail to any of the accused, as he outlined his objections.
His arguments were that the allegations were serious, particularly the robbery and burglary offences which were “always very confrontational” and where injury or death could occur.
Underscoring the seriousness of the charge of handling, the prosecutor noted that under the Theft Act, handling carries an even stiffer penalty than theft.
As for those accused of aggravated robbery, Kellman remarked: “Lord have mercy; when you are in your own home or in your own castle and a person comes in to take things that you work hard for . . . and with a weapon?”
Andrew Pilgrim QC was first among defence attorneys to respond and apply for bail for the accused.
He told Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant that based on the fact that Samantha Jack would very likely not go to trial within the next two years and might be acquitted in the end, she should be allowed to return home to her five children.
“They are all going to get bail some day,” he continued. “It is just a question of how much of their sentence do we want to frontload here?”
He felt that Jack’s overnight detention was already “a breach of all human rights standards” since she had been brought to court around 2:19 p.m. on Wednesday but never entered the dock because her co-accused were not present.
Pilgrim questioned whether that would have happened had she been the daughter of a rich or a prominent person.
“Should she now be sent to a prison which for the last three weeks had no running water, no soap, no toothpaste . . . ?” Pilgrim asked.
Verla DePeiza, who is representing accused Harte, said she would make her bail application elsewhere since her client was charged under the Firearms Act.
Speaking on behalf of the Bynoe brothers, Mohia Ma’at informed the court that Jermaine Bynoe is the father of one, is not on bail and has no previous convictions. He added that Bynoe has represented Barbados in rugby since age 13 and has been an ambassador for this country.
“He is totally unknown to these courts,” Ma’at said, and is now facing only a single count of handling. Of his brother, the lawyer went on to say that Keshane Bynoe takes care of his grandmother.
Angella Mitchell-Gittens said she was heartened to hear the prosecutor refer to the Bail Act, which states that one must have substantial grounds for denying bail. She said the court is to be moved by evidence and not “by emotive language.”
There was no evidence, she said, to show that her client Stephen Streeks “will fail to surrender to custody”. She stressed that the 38-year-old Barbadian national and father of one is “not a person who will seek to flee”.
Accused Hamblin was being represented by attorney-at-law Silbert Cadogan, while Naomi Lynton is also representing Jack.
Accused Scantlebury did not make a bail application but told the court that his “mind ain’t settled due to the overwhelmingness of this here” and he has no attorney.
He left it up to the magistrate to decide but informed her that he wanted his matters fast-tracked. Accused Maynard made a similar requeSt
Only the handling charges were pleaded to today, with all of the other charges being indictable.