Bandit held after robbing Brits

TWO British female tourists who were among the first batch of  passengers on the new Virgin Atlantic flight direct from England to Trinidad and Tobago, have praised Blanchisseuse police for arresting and charging a Venezuelan-born bandit, who on Thursday robbed the tourists in La Fillette.

At a specially convened sitting of the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on Friday afternoon, the 23-year-old accused pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery and was ordered to reappear in court next Tuesday when he will be sentenced. According to police reports, around 1.30 pm last Thursday, British tourists Nikki Crisp, 24, and Jemma Harding, 25, were sun-bathing at Mitchell Bay, La Fillette, when the man walked up to th?5, snatched their handbags and fled along the beach. The victims reported the incident to Blanchisseuse police and Constables Solomon and Seecharran began investigations. The officers later questioned several villagers and around 3.45 pm, went to the suspect’s Water Reserve Road, La Fillette home.

Confronted by the police, the suspect confessed to the crime and took the officers to a lonely part of the beach where the victims’ handbags, which still contained their personal belongings, were retrieved. On Friday morning, Crisp and Harding went to Blanchisseuse Police Station where they positively identified the suspect and also their belongings. The man was subsequently charged by PC Solomon. Because both women are scheduled to fly out early tomorrow morning for their homeland, there was a specially convened sitting of the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on Friday afternoon. The suspect appeared before Magistrate David Harris and pleaded guilty. The magistrate subsequently ordered police to carry out a background check on the accused to see if he has a criminal record and/or any matters pending before the courts. Magistrate Harris then remanded the accused into custody and ordered him to return to court on Tuesday, when he will face sentencing.