Police Officers, Employees among five remanded for Bank robbery

Five men were jointly charged with attempted robbery under arms committed on Republic Bank’s Water street branch on Tuesday, July 04, 2017.

The men who include two employees of the bank appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court before Chief Magistrate Ann Mclennan today (Friday, July 14, 2017).

Jamal Haynes pleaded guilty to the offense when it was read to him for which he was sentenced to prison.

Keron Saunders, Rural Constable, Gladston George, Police Constable Anfernee Blackman and Republic Bank Employee, Shawn Grimmond pleaded not guilty and were remanded until August 11, 2017.

Republic Bank Employee, Haynes who sustained gunshot injuries during the robbery and was forced to limp his way into the courtroom, faced several other individual charges.

He was individually charged with discharging a loaded firearm with intent to cause injury and bodily harm, possession of 9mm ammunition, possession of 9mm firearm without being a licensed firearm.

He pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined a total of $280,000.

He will also be serving a total of six years in prison.

Haynes also faced charges for holding a bank employee hostage and robbing Ryan Myers of his vehicle, a cell phone a cash totalling $2.9 million.

He pleaded not guilty to robbing Myers and was remanded for same.

The Chief Magistrate told Haynes that he was not given the maximum sentence for the offenses since he entered a guilty plea.

Haynes identified his now dead friend, Elton Wray as the mastermind of the robbery and told the court he did not know the co-accused with the exception of Saunders.

However, the Prosecutor claimed Haynes had implicated the two policemen and his fellow bank employee.

According to the accused who pleaded guilty, he was of the view that they were going to rob a citizen at the ATM but until there, he was told that they were going to rob the night safe at the bank.

However, the prosecutor related that Haynes helped plan the robbery and was expected to identify bank employee, Grimmond, who would at the time have the bag of cash deposits made over the weekend.

The prosecution stated that Grimmond was the inside man while Police Constable Blackman supplied the guns and Rural Constable, George was tipped to drive the getaway car.

During the failed robbery on July 04, 2017, Elton Wray, an Agronomist attached to the National Agricultural and Extension Institute (NAREI) was shot and killed.

Saunders also faced separate charges of being in possession of 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition and one Taurus 9mm pistol.

He pleaded not guilty to those charges and claimed that a gun was pointed at him, forcing him to go along with the plan.