Prosecutor in tears at Penal kidnap hearing

A prosecutor broke down in tears and had to be excused from court while she detailed the reasons for her objection to bail in the case involving Akeem Kinsale, who is charged with the December 1 kidnapping of a Penal family.

Kinsale, 25, of Penal, was denied bail when he appeared before senior magistrate Margaret Alert in the Siparia Magistrates Court today. Sgt Starr Jacob objected to bail because of the seriousness of the alleged offences.

Owing to the serious nature of the case, details discussed in the court may not be reported. The matter was heard in camera, as the magistrate cleared the court.

As the prosecutor began giving the details of her objections, she began to cry, then asked the magistrate if she could be excused. Wiping her tears, the prosecutor left the courtroom and was replaced by legal officer PC Sheldon Salazar.

The charges read to Kinsale included six counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery with violence, six counts of demanding money by ransom, and possession of marijuana. Two other charges were also read to him. The charges were laid indictably by Sgt Gookool of the Penal CID and Kinsale was not called upon to plead.

Last week Saturday, masked men kidnapped Aaron Sooknanan, 28, his 26-year-old Venezuelan-born wife Paola Sanchez-Sooknanan, five-year-old son Ricardo, three-year-old daughter Isabella and Sanchez-Sooknanan’s sister Roxana Gonzalez, 37, also from Venezuela, and another male relative, from their home at Jhulai Trace, off Penal Rock Road.

The following day the family was rescued by police from a house at South Oropouche River Road, Barrackpore.

In her bail application attorney Chantal Paul said her client lived at Sunress Road in Penal. Kinsale was the father of three, she said, the youngest a newborn baby, and his other children aged four and one.

Paul said her client has pending matters which include attempted murder and possession of a firearm and a previous conviction for possession of marijuana.

Paul told the magistrate her client was not a flight risk and did not own a passport.

She also requested disclosure in the matter relating to the identification and parade.

The magistrate agreed with the prosecution’s objection and in denying bail advised that Kinsale apply to a judge in chambers.

Kinsale was remanded into custody. The case was adjourned to January 7.