Marabella man charged with arson

Akeem Williams, the man who allegedly locked his visiting girlfriend in a room in a woodwork shop in Marabella and set it on fire earlier this month, faced a San Fernando magistrate on Friday.

The magistrate denied bail to the 30-year-old Wiliams and remanded him into police custody.

Cpl Simon of the Marabella police station charged Williams with two counts of arson and a count of common assault.

Police contend that on March 9, at Bayshore (Old Train Line), he set the room on fire after a loud argument with his girlfriend, 26. Williams, who worked in the shop, lived in the room.

The girlfriend, who lives at St Croix Road in Princes Town, managed to escape from the building. She suffered burnsand was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Williams was also burnt, and went to the same hospital for treatment shortly after the incident. He was hospitalised under police guard and discharged last week.

Police said the fire spread and destroyed the shop and two small wooden houses at the back. The fire also damaged a concrete house at the front.