Charge dismissed against woman accused of stealing baby girl

A 50-year-old woman of Nurney Village, East Berbice-Corentyne, who was charged for stealing a baby girl in July 2020, was freed of the offence on Wednesday.

Beverley Gomes, also known as ‘Patricia’, was on trial at the Berbice Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Crystal Lambert, who ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case and so she dismissed the charge against Gomes.

On July 3, 2020, Gomes was contacted by the police in Berbice after she was found with a baby girl that was reported missing by her mother in March that year.

Gomes had told investigators that the mother of the then nine-month-old asked her to take the baby to a hospital outside of the Cuyuni/Mazaruni District, Region 7.

At the time, both women were employed as cooks at Quart Stone, Backdam in Cuyuni and the mother would usually leave the child in Gomes’ care.

Gomes had told the Police that the baby’s mother, who is a Venezuelan national, gave her the baby’s birth certificate and other documents as she journeyed from Region 7 to the capital city and visited the Georgetown Public Hospital with the baby.

At the Georgetown Hospital, the doctors there treated the toddler and reportedly told Gomes to take her regularly to the clinic for further check-ups. Gomes told Police that the mother was supposed to collect the baby girl three days later but she never showed up and so Gomes took her to her Nurney Village house.

Gomes told the police that she tried calling the mother repeatedly but her cellphone went to voicemail.