Record $4.4M bail

Justice of the Peace Ackbar Khan will be well remembered by two Santa Cruz men who appeared yesterday before a Tunapuna magistrate charged with robbing and kidnapping a taxi driver last week, as he fixed the highest ever recorded bail sum for the offence of kidnapping. The men, who were charged by Cpl Williams on Monday night, had bail fixed by JP Khan in the sum of  $2.2 million each. They were each charged with two counts of kidnapping and had bail fixed at $1 million for each count of kidnapping, $100,000 for for robbery and $100,000 possession of an unlicensed firearm. Appearing before Magistrate Joanne Connor in the Tunapuna First Court were 25-year-old Dennis Jeffrey and 27-year-old Sean Elvin, both of Lower Santa Cruz.

The two men are charged with the abduction of 34-year-old Longdenville taxi driver, Matthew Marlon Rattansingh, on October 6. When they appeared before the magistrate yesterday, the men faced five indictable charges arising out of Rattansingh’s abduction. According to the charges, the men were held by officers of the San Fernando CID at Pointe-a-Pierre Road with six rounds of ammunition and a .38 revolver. Both men also allegedly robbed Rattansingh of his car and $140 cash at Mt D’or Road, Champs Fleurs. Both men were also charged with kidnapping Rattansingh and taking him to Pointe-a-Pierre Road on October 6. The fourth charge was for possession of a Smith and Wesson revolver, while the fifth charge was for the false imprisonment of Rattansingh at Pointe-a-Pierre Road, San Fernando.

Both accused were not called on to plead, as the five charges were laid indictably. Reports state that Rattansingh was hired by two men pretending to be passengers after he had dropped off another passenger in the San Juan area. A short while later, Rattansingh was ordered to keep driving by one of the men who stuck a gun to his head. The taxi driver then had his hands and feet tied with shoelaces, before he was thrown in the trunk of his Nissan B13 Sentra car. The vehicle was later intercepted at Pointe-a Pierre Road in San Fernando by officers of the San Fernando CID. Both men were arrested and charged for the offence. When the accused men stood before Magistrate Connor yesterday, they indicated that they did not have any pending matters before the court and also did not have any previous convictions.

However, the court’s police prosecutor objected to bail, saying Jeffrey and Elvin had not yet been traced. The matters relating to Pointe-a-Pierre Road were transferred to the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court for October 15. JP Khan told Newsday that kidnapping was a prevalent crime that was obviously getting out of hand. “I did this to set an example. I can bet you after this, these men will never do this again, and others wishing to do the same may very well think twice,” said Khan. Elvin and Jeffrey will reappear tomorrow at Tunapuna Magistrates’ Court to answer the other charges.