UG students remanded on theft, ganja charges

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry remanded three University of Guyana students on Monday when they appeared before her in Court One to answer a series of charges, ranging from theft to possession of cannabis.

The accused are Kester Brian, Sanjaya Sunajpaul and Karen Fiedtkou, all of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. They were represented by attorney-at-law Mark Waldron.

Sergeant Lionel Harvey, prosecuting in the case, told the court that on March 10, 2011, at Henry Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, the three stole groceries worth Gy$80,000, cash in the sum of Gy$300,000, and a motor car valued at Gy$2 million from the virtual complainant, Cleveland Mentore.

While searching the defendants’ 4th Street residence at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara on March 11th, the police discovered the accused were in possession of two grammes of cannabis in addition to cannabis plants. The two men are said to be second-year students of Civil Engineering at The University of Guyana, while Fiedtkou is a final-year student, just months away from graduating in Economics.

According to Waldron, his client Kester Brian was friendly with Fiedkou, and she asked the two young men to assist her in moving out from Cummings Lodge, since her relationship with the VC, Cleveland Mentore, had ended and she was heading back to 2967 Amelia’s Ward, Linden.

He said that, somewhat naively, the two did Fiedtkou’s bidding, including driving the stolen car to Linden, as a favour to her. As such, he was asking the court to be lenient with his clients and grant them their pre-trial liberty in a reasonable sum.

He also told the court that neither client is a flight risk, and that both will be present in court to face all charges levelled against them. The acting chief magistrate granted bail for all the charges except the one for cultivation of cannabis.

Bail was granted in the sum of $5000 each for the possession charge, $100,000 each for burglary, 100,000 each on one simple larceny charge, and $250,000 for the other simple larceny charge. The acting chief magistrate then ordered that the trio appear at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on March 18 to answer to the narcotics charges; and on April 1 for all other charges to be answered in Court One of the Georgetown Magistrates Courts.