$1.7M bail for Jamaat men held with gun, ammo

THE 11  Jamaat Al Muslimeen members, who were jointly charged with possession of a pistol and 20 rounds of ammunition at Western Main Road, Carenage, were yesterday granted bail by Magistrate Melvin Daniel in the sum of $1.7 million to be approved by the Clerk of the Peace. The matter was being heard at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Four B Court. Avid Reece, 26, of Upper Harding Place, Cocorite, Adell Alleyne, 27, of Waterhole, Cocorite, Haylin Popwell, 24, of Mosley Place, East Dry River, Port-of-Spain, Joel Chase, 23, of 37 Laventille Road, East Dry River, Port-of-Spain, Tris Tram McClean, 33, of 17 Ross Lands, Upper Bournes Road, St James, Kern Garcia, 19, of Guiaco, Sangre Grande, Fitzroy Campbell, 43, of 10 Broome Street, Four Roads, Diego Martin, Sayif Noreiga, 19, of Smith Hill, Carenage, Bernard Coltes, 40, also of Smith Hill, Neil George, 27, of Wallenvale Road, Sangre Grande and Allen Joseph Luke, 22, of Le Platte Village, Maraval, had all appeared before Daniel on Monday to answer the charges and had been remanded into custody pending tracing. The men had been charged by PC Spence, who was not present in court.

When the results of the tracing were given to Daniel by police prosecutor Sgt Sharon Webster-Gulston, one of the defence attorneys, Ian Brooks, asked if she would be “solely depending on that document” to counter the bail application. He recalled, he said, a previous occasion when she (Gulston) had said she could not rely on the tracing documents provided to the court by the Criminal Records Office (CRO). In response, the magistrate told Brooks he doubted that the prosecutor would submit a document that would waste the court’s time. Brooks, however, argued that the court’s time was wasted on many occasions because the tracing documents did not always accurately reflect the status of the accused. Complainants went to the CRO, he said, saw a long list of offences “and smiled” but neglected to verify the information contained on the documents. 

The results of the tracings revealed that several of the men had previous convictions and pending matters. Daniel then granted bail and ordered the 11 to report to the police stations closest to their homes every Monday and Friday between 11 am and 3 pm and adjourned the matter to January 29. The defence team included Brooks, Patrick Godson-Phillips and Joseph Melville. Meanwhile, Kala Akii-Bua, a top Muslimeen member, told Newsday that the 11 members are not members of his organisation, but belong to a group headed by an expelled Jamaat member.