Trio guilty of gang rape

THREE men who were yesterday found guilty by a San Fernando jury on charges of kidnapping and several sexual offences, including rape of a 25-year-old woman four years ago, will be sentenced next Tuesday. Kevin Boyce and Otis Samuel, who are both 27 and both from Cunupia, and Thomas Austin, 37, of Arouca, were found guilty by a mixed nine-member jury who heard the trial at the First Criminal Court, which was presided over by Justice Melville Baird. All three were found guilty of kidnap, rape, serious indecency and sexual assault, while Austin was found guilty of attempted buggery. The trial lasted a month and a day.

State attorney Marissa Ramsundar prosecuted while attorneys Ernest Koylass, Mewalal Chatoor and Dawn Mohan defended Boyce, Austin and Samuel respectively. The evidence outlined by Ramsundar was that on the morning of February 17 2000, the woman was seated in a white jeep with her then boyfriend at the Lady Young lookout in Morvant. While there, the couple were engaged in an argument which ended when they both prepared to leave the area in the jeep. However, the three accused pulled up alongside the jeep in a silver Mazda 323 and cornered the couple. The woman and her boyfriend were forced into the car which sped off. The couple was then taken by the three men to a deserted area in Couva near some canefields.

The woman’s boyfriend was locked in the trunk of the car, while Boyce threw the woman on to the bonnet of the car while one of his accomplices attempted to rape her. She resisted. Ramsundar stated that the woman was then thrown to the ground and threatened by Boyce, while Samuel, who was armed with a cutlass, stood nearby. The three men then proceeded to take turns raping the woman on the ground. After the attack, the men tied up the woman and her companion and drove off. The victims managed to untie themselves and walked to the main road where they flagged down a passing truck which took them to Brechin Castle.

They then got a lift from a taxi driver to the Couva Police Station where a report was made to Cpl Mc Clean. WPC Adina Cummings took the woman to Couva Health Centre where she was medically examined by DMO Mahabir. The accused trio was taken into custody and subsequently identified by the female victim, who pointed them out in three separate identification parades. In his defence, Boyce told the jury that he was at home with his girlfriend during the incident. He called his girlfriend and her mother to the witness-box to support his alibi. Austin simply denied committing the offences while Samuel chose not to take the witness-box. Justice Baird then postponed sentencing to next Tuesday.