Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 29, 2011 News
The 18-year-old computer student who admitted to staging her own abduction and demanded a $300,000 ransom for her release, has been slapped with three charges, and appeared yesterday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
However, one of the charges which implied that she had demanded the ransom by text message sent to her uncle’s phone was dismissed, since he declined to give evidence against her.
As a result the uncle was ordered to pay $50,000 cost to the court.
The girl was also charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and providing false information.
The teenager who resides in Unity Village, Mahaica, on the East Coast of Demerara, pleaded not guilty to the two charges and was granted bail of $60,000 for each.
The accused is scheduled to make her next court appearance on September 2.
During the hearing, the Magistrate ordered that all persons not related to the matter, leave the courtroom. The only persons that were left in the courtroom were the accused, her attorney Kim Kyte, her uncle and the Prosecutor.
On Saturday, last, around 02:15 hrs, the teenager was discovered at the home of a female friend at Mittleholzer Street, Festival City, North Ruimveldt, by members of a joint services team.
Kaieteur News understands that the 18-year-old ‘kidnap victim’ was found hiding under a bed. According to sources, investigators had located the ‘hideout’ after tracing text messages that she had been sending to relatives instructing about the delivery of her ransom.
The girl, her 17-year-old friend and the friend’s parents were then taken into custody at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary.
The teen reportedly alleged that four men had abducted her and forced her to demand a ransom for her release. But under interrogation she eventually apologised and told the truth.
Police sources said that content of the text messages concerning the ransom had tipped off investigators almost immediately that the kidnapping was staged.
According to a police official, the relatives were first instructed to deliver the ransom to the ‘kidnappers’ near Buxton, East Coast Demerara.
They were then told to hand over the ransom in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens on Friday.
Several police ranks in plainclothes staked out the area but the ‘kidnappers’ failed to show up.
“The ransom was to be collected by hand…that’s how we knew that it (the ‘kidnapping’) was nonsense,” the official said.
Some Festival City residents said that they realised that something was amiss when they observed a number of police ranks clambering into the house in which the teen was staying.
Others told Kaieteur News that a slim, bespectacled teen was a frequent visitor to the home of her 17-year-old friend.
The teen, a former St. Joseph High student, had left her home around 09:30 hrs last week Wednesday for computer classes in Middle Street, Georgetown. She was seen in the vicinity of the University of Guyana, where she was reportedly planning to enroll.
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