Two minors charged with unlawfully killing an 11-year-old boy were granted $70,000 bail each after spending two nights in remand.
The two brothers narrowly escaped being sent back to the Youth Training Centre (YTC), in Arouca, after their attorneys successfully petitioned Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar to deliberate on whether the children were eligible for bail during her lunch break, rather than over the weekend.
When the matter was called legal officer Cpl Keston Abraham said under the amendment to the Bail Act the children were not entitled to bail given that they committed an offence while in possession of a firearm. He said that the act also stipulates that where punishment for a crime is beyond a ten-year jail sentence, the defendant is not entitled to bail for 120 days.
The children’s attorneys, Russel Warner who represented the 13-year-old and Saeed Trotter who represented the child’s 11-year-old brother, informed the magistrate that under the Children’s Act, no child is allowed to be imprisoned and by denying them bail, the court was in fact placing them in a prison, contrary to the Children’s Act.
Legal officer attached to the Children’s Authority, Nnika Watson, said that the law stated that children were to be placed at either a rehabilitation centre or a community residence. Watson said that the failure of the State to provide either forced the magistrate to have the children remanded at YTC.
After listening to both sides, as well as Watson, Ayers-Caesar said that the Children’s Act brought “new light” and moved to adjourn the matter to Monday. However, Trotter argued that the court could return after lunch “for the children” stating that their continued stay at YTC would further traumatise them.
When the matter resumed at 3 pm, Ayers-Caesar granted the children $70,000 bail each and ordered that they report to the West End Police Station every Saturday between 6 am and 6 pm. As the magistrate granted the children bail, their mother, seated in the back of the prisoner’s dock, was seen smiling. Their grandfather was seen wiping away tears as he left the courtroom.
Before granting bail, the chief magistrate read an excerpt from the Hansard where then attorney general Anand Ramlogan argued that the purpose of the amendment was to send a strong message that the possession of illegal firearms was not a trivial thing.
She said even though the law existed for the sole purpose of curbing gun-related offences, she believed that the legislators did not envisage the act being used against minors, particularly in a case where the proper mental culpability had not been met.
“It cannot be that the legislators intended to use the same yardstick towards children and adults. In granting bail I am looking at the age of the children and their development. Are they understanding the consequences of their actions, because the necessary intent may not be present,” Ayers-Caesar said.
Ayers-Caesar also ordered that a psychological, psychiatric and psycho-educational evaluation be done on the children, who throughout the court matter sat in the prisoners’ dock, eyes fixed on the chief magistrate, and their heads barely sticking above the three-foot-high wooden barrier. The assessments will have to be presented to the court by Watson or anyone from the Children’s Authority on the next date for hearing. She then ordered that the children return to court on December 15.
The brothers are charged with manslaughter and possession of a shotgun and ammunition following the shooting death of Ruben Reid on August 6.
Reid was killed in the hills of Upper Richplain, Diego Martin, after being shot in the face with a shotgun. He was buried on August 12, the day the children first appeared in court.