Anna-Lisa Paul
Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Steven Harding’s shop at Green Hill, Diego Martin had been robbed seven times last year. However, a robbery early yesterday turned fatal after he was tied up, gagged and his head duct-taped by bandits who took the keys to the shop and left.
The 60-year-old shopkeeper was found unresponsive in his bedroom by a male relative around 2.15 am. He had been gagged and his head was wrapped in silver duct tape. Police believe he may have suffocated to death.
Harding’s small shop at the front of his family property on the Diego Martin Main Road remained closed yesterday as news of his death spread. A female relative believes he was being targeted as several other persons live on the property but no one else was affected.
Pointing to a steel door with two padlocks she said: “The parlour was wide open. Like they went in and take money.”
Harding, who spent his entire life in Green Hill, was well-known in the area.
“This is not the first time they rob him. This is about the seventh time they rob him ... last year back to back,” said his relative, as she struggled to hold back tears.
“It had to be the people who accustomed coming and robbing him.”
A resident said the community was shaken by Harding’s murder.
“We are feeling unsafe,” he said.
Residents gathered on the pavement in front of Harding’s shop and commiserated with the grieving family. They said he was not an aggressive person and had taken the past robberies in stride.
One man recalled that Harding “loved his sports.”
Another chimed in: “He was cool and quiet, never harass nobody.”