Two men who were arrested during a manhunt for the suspects in the fatal Pennywise Plaza robbery now have to apply to a judge for bail. Christopher Noreiga and Brent Walcott were denied bail by Senior Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh when they reappeared in the San Fernando Charge Court on Thursday.
Objecting to bail, prosecutor Sgt Harold Ishmael noted that the type of firearms they were allegedly held with are deemed prohibited weapons and capable of causing death on a large scale.
Making reference to the September 19 Pennywise Super Centre robbery in La Romain, in which two security guards were killed and another critically injured, the prosecutor said similar weapons were used in that incident.
Four of the six suspects involved in the deadly heist were subsequently killed by the police at a house in La Romain.
Walcott and Noreiga are charged with possession of two AR-15 rifles, three magazines and 38 rounds of ammunition for the purpose of trafficking.
The two initially appeared in court on Tuesday and were remanded into custody for the police to conduct fingerprint tracings to determine if they had previous convictions or pending matters.
However, Ishmael told Magistrate Deonarinesingh that the tracing was not done because the police fingerprint data system was not working. He said the police also had an issue verifying the addresses for Walcott and Noreiga.
It is alleged that on September 20, the day after the Pennywise robbery, the police were on an exercise at Kalloo Street, when they allegedly saw the accused examining two firearms.
When the two saw the police they allegedly ran through the bushes and escaped. It is alleged that they left behind the two assault rifles, magazines and ammunition.
However, the men were later arrested and charged by PC Collin Legendre.
The exhibits were shown to the court.
The men were remanded into custody and advised of their right to apply to a judge in chambers for bail.