Saada Singh kidnapping trial to start in July

TWENTY years after she was allegedly kidnapped from her Montessori school in Vistabella, Saada Singh’s alleged abductors will go on trial in July.

On March 12, Justice Geoffrey Henderson stopped the trial, discharging the jurors who were selected for the case since the two remaining accused had not yet been put in the jury’s charge.

He explained with the court’s break for Easter, they would run out of time, so it would be better to have it start in July.

Before then, starting in June, attorneys for the prosecution and defence will deal with any legal issues which must be done without a jury present.

“I know some of you would have been interested in sitting on this trial which generated national attention at the time, but I am going to stop the trial and discharge you,” he told the jurors as he emphasised the important role of jurors in the criminal justice system.

Singh, then four, was allegedly kidnapped from her school–Giselle Montessori–on Archibald Street, Vistabella on June 3, 2004, hours after she was dropped off by her mother. Two days later, she was found wandering along a lonely road in Siparia, reports then said.

Four people – Colleen Osbourne, of Pleasantville; Kimberly Moonsammy, her cousin Jonathan, both of Vistabella and Keston Franklyn, of La Brea – were accused of abducting Singh.

In 2017, Johnathan Moonsammy was murdered while Osbourne was killed in an accident in July 2023. Only Kimberly Moonsammy and Franklyn remain and their bail was allowed to continue until the start of their trial.

They were granted bail of $100,000 in July 2023. They are represented by attorneys Keith Beckles and Rekha Ramjit. Brandon Sookoo and Dylan Martin appear for the prosecution.