Three men, including brothers, denied bail for robberies

THREE men, including two brothers, appeared on Tuesday before San Fernando magistrate Alicia Chankar charged with a series of robberies in San Fernando and Princes Town.

Rutendo Duntin, 33, his brother Josiah Duntin, 25, and David Lewis, 33, were jointly charged with four counts of robbery with violence.

The brothers are from Fifth Company Village in Moruga and Lewis is from La Vega Road in Sangre Grande.

It is alleged that on May 18, they stole keys, cellphones and $560 from a man in Lengua. On the same day at Cipero Road, Borde Narve, they allegedly robbed a woman of $300, cellphones and jewellery. Five days later at Temple Street, Duncan Village in San Fernando the men allegedly robbed another woman of her house keys, jewellery and $250.

The four charges against the men alleged that on that same date and place, they robbed the woman’s husband of his car keys valued $20.

Josiah faces an additional charge of raping a woman on May 18.

Duntin had two more charges for offences that occurred between May 2 and 5 at St Croix Road in Princes Town. The first was that he stole a Nissan X-trail valued $70,000 from a woman. It is further alleged that he broke into the home of another woman, also of St Croix Road, and stole $182,000 worth of items, including gold jewellery, alcoholic beverages, electronics and schoolbags.

PCs Mitchell and Clarence and WPC De Bourge, of the Southern Division, laid the charges.

The accused men were not called upon to plead.

Attorney Bernadette Arneaud represented the trio and said a writ of habeas corpus had been obtained.

Prosecutor and attorney PC Ramdath Phillip responded that Josiah had refused to leave the station cell to go on an ID parade. The prosecutor said Josiah also threw faeces at police.

Arneaud told the magistrate that Josiah, the father of one, is a fabricator. Duntin is the father of two and a construction worker. Lewis, father of one, is a gardener.

Chankar denied bail and remanded them into police custody and transferred some of the matters to the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court for them to appear there tomorrow.

They will reappear in San Fernando on June 26.