Two men from Carenage, accused of robbing the passengers of two maxi taxis including one transporting 14 Bahamian tourists on Carnival Sunday, have been denied bail.
Magistrate Cheron Raphael remanded Justin Hayes, 18, and 20-year-old Tafarra Brandon into custody after they appeared before her in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Her decision was based on the fact that the duo’s criminal record tracing was not available in time for the hearing.
While their attorneys claimed Hayes and Brandon had clean criminal records, police prosecutor Sgt Rawle Ramharack asked for an adjournment to confirm as he pointed out that preliminary checks revealed that Brandon had an alias, which was connected to several pending criminal charges.
Raphael agreed and adjourned the case to today, when she would consider bail.
Hayes, who recently graduated from St Anthony’s College and Brandon, a welder, both of Point Cumana, Carenage, are facing a total of 13 charges from the two incidents which occurred between 3 am and 5 am on Carnival Sunday.
According to the charges, the robberies took place as the maxi taxis, which were transporting patrons to a fete in Chaguaramas, diverted through Rodney Street, Carenage, after encountering traffic along the Western Main Road.