Mom of accused put out of court

THE mother of a 12-year-old girl, jointly charged with four adults with possession of a grenade, firearms, ammunition, cocaine and marijuana, was yesterday ordered out of the Siparia Magistrates’ Court by the presiding magistrate who deemed her a “security risk.” “You can see me, but I can’t see you,” Magistrate Gillian David told Tammy McLeod, who was clad in black full-length garments complete with a Hijab (Muslim head gear) which only had slits cut out for the eyes. However, the 12-year-old defendant’s attorney Leon Gokool protested, saying the mother’s constitutional rights were being infringed. Magistrate David stood firm, however and Mc Cleod was ordered to leave the court.

The 12-year-old accused, of Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain; her relative Martin Noriega Bain, 34, of Aripero Village, his common-law-wife Erica Rondon, 30, of Costa Agual, Venezuela, Erica’s mother Beatrice Rondon, 55, and sister Adriana Rondon, 18, both of Caracas, Venezuela appeared before Magistrate David. They are charged with possession of arms and ammunition and possession of cocaine and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The five were allegedly arrested by officers of the Firearms Interdiction Unit (FIU), headed by Snr Supt Errol Dillon, during a raid at a house in Cipero Village, Rousillac last week Wednesday. The FIU allegedly seized Mac 1, Mac 10 and Mac 11 machine-guns, three nine-millimetre and two .380 pistols, a hand grenade, 347 rounds of ammunition comprising 7.62 mm, 9mm and .45 calibre, two AK-47 magazines, TT$3 million in cocaine, weighing 11.2 kilos, 600 grammes of marijuana worth $50,000 and a bullet-proof vest with the word “Police,” in the raid.

In court yesterday, when attorneys Leon Gokool and Wayne Sturge applied for bail, court prosecutor Sgt Ramsey objected on the grounds that three of the accused were non-nationals and thus considered flight risks, and Bain already had six matters pending in the Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court, which included possession of arms and ammunition. The magistrate agreed with the prosecutor that the matter was a serious one and, as such, she ruled that bail would not be granted. The magistrate also advised the accused to apply to a Judge in Chambers for bail. The 12-year-old female accused, who last week was granted bail by a Judge in Chambers, was released into the custody of her mother. The matter was adjourned to August 5.