Western News
Bail extended for accused students
BY PAUL A REID, Observer West writer
Thursday, June 25, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James
Four students - including a brother and sister - who helped an adult to break into their Montego Bay-based high school a month ago, had their bails extended when they appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The four, along with 28-year-old taxi driver Andre Stephens, are to return to court on July 13 when charges of robbery with aggravation, office breaking, larceny and unlawful wounding will be further mentioned.
The court heard on Tuesday that the file was not complete while at least two of the five are to finalise their legal representation.
They were held and charged after they allegedly went to the school on May 14 after 9:00 pm and, on being approached by the security guard, overpowered and handcuffed him before relieving him of a bunch of keys that they used to open grills to the office.
After failing to get into the bursar's office, however, the court heard that they broke down the door and removed $125,650 in paper money and coins, five lap top computers valued at over $400,000 and a CD player valued at $6,000.
It was heard that they also took a gold ring from the security guard valued at $6,000, a cellular telephone and $300 before escaping in a motor car.
A report was made to the police and three teens-one of whom had just completed sitting an examination - were picked up five days later. All were pointed out on identification parades.
The laptop computers and a portion of the money- $106,979.50 - were also recovered but none of the guard's personal items
were found.
The court heard that the computers were identified by serial numbers that matched the records at the school.
The court had also heard that the three teens aged between 17 and 18 years old had told the police under caution they had broken into the school's office intending to steal external Mathematics papers.
Stephens and two of the teens were offered bail in the sum of $80,000 with one or two sureties with conditions to report to the police three days a week and not to associate with each other.
The other teen whom the court heard was living on his own in a Montego Bay inner-city area since age 12 after his mother died and who had no relationship with his father, was offered $50,000 bail
in his own surety with similar conditions.
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