Kidnapper, robber to be sentenced on Feb 28

Stephon Reid, 29, of East Dry River, Port of Spain, will know his fate from Justice Carla Brown-Antoine on February 28 for charges of kidnapping, robbery and possession of a toy gun 11 years ago.

Reid pleaded guilty yesterday to the charges before the judge in the San Fernando High Court, having been waiting in prison for the past three years and ten months for a trial date. The period he spent incarcerated will be considered in the sentence the judge intends to prescribe on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery.

State Attorney Stacy Lallo-Chong told Brown-Antoine that at about 1 pm on January 21, 2007, Reid, then 18, boarded a taxi together with another man at Library Corner, San Fernando. The driver was Nigel Harishcharan and seated in the front passenger seat was Glenda Le Ben.The car made its way to Princes Town via Ste Madeleine.

Lallo-Chong told the judge that when the taxi neared the first pond in Ste Madeleine, Reid pointed an imitation gun at Harishcharan and robbed him of his cellphone. Near the second pond, he robbed Le Ben of a wallet, cellphone and $200. Harishcharan, the state attorney said, drove the car to the Ste Madeleine Police Station, where Reid and the other man jumped out and ran into the road. Police chased them and caught Reid, still holding the imitation gun. The other man is on bail awaiting trial.

Attorney Rosario Sookdeo, who represented Reid yesterday, pleaded with Brown-Antoine to be lenient with him. Reid is the father of two children and when he committed the act, he was unemployed. The judge ordered a biodata report on him and postponed sentencing to February 28.