Bail for five on kidnap charge

Five San Juan men were yesterday granted bail in the sum of $50,000 each when they appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate on charges of kidnapping and two counts of assault. Sean Rampersad, 21, David Rampersad, 23, Andrew Maharaj, 22, Joseph Hernandez, 24 and Andrew Jones appeared before Magistrate Ejenny Espinet at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Eighth Court charged with assaulting with the intent to do bodily harm and unlawfully taking away Carlton Trevor Modeste at Pundit Street, El Socorro, on October 24. Sean, David, Maharaj and Hernandez were also charged with assaulting Sookdeo Boochoon at the corner of Adjodha Street and Don Miguel Road, San Juan, on the same day.

They were arrested and charged close to their home over the weekend by WPC John of the Barataria CID.  John was not present in court. The men, who were represented by attorney Israel Khan, all pleaded not guilty to the charges.  In his bid to secure bail for his clients, Khan described the act as “a prank” and “not the run of the mill kidnapping.” He said although kidnapping was a serious offence, there were different types of kidnappings.  His clients, he said, were all gainfully employed, with the exception of Hernandez, and they had no previous convictions. Police prosecutor Sgt Claudette Bynoe had no objection to bail pending tracing and Espinet stood down the matter until the results of the tracings were made available. The results revealed that all, with the exception of Jones, had no antecedents. The five will re-appear in court on Monday.