A Fitz Hughes man has been slapped with wounding and armed robbery charges in connection with the robbery of two Martiniquans and a St. Lucian who told police they came to St. Vincent to buy conch.
Carlston Lett, 26, was brought before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown on Tuesday, where the indictable charges were read to him.
He is charged that on Feb. 2, 2017 at Morne Ronde — an uninhabited area north of Richmond — he wounded Francois Lubin of Martinique by shooting him on his left arm.
Lett is also charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm at Lubin and, being armed with a gun, robbed Lubin of a pouch containing his passport, a blue Samsung cellular phone, a black Thompson cellular phone and 890 euros in cash.
The man is further charged that on the same day at Morne Ronde, he, being armed with a gun, robbed Quintin Wilfred of St. Lucia of a black cellular phone and 1,000 euros in cash.
He is further charged that on the same day, also at Morne Ronde, he, being armed with a gun, robbed Jean-Louis Gaston of Martinique of one black Samsung phone and 350 euros in cash.
The men told police that they came to St. Vincent on a speedboat to buy conch.
The visitors say that they were accosted by four persons around 9:30 a.m. on the day in question and were robbed.
Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche did not object to bail but asked for sufficiency of surety, reporting conditions of at least three times a week, that Lett surrender his travel documents and that stop notices be placed at ports of entry and exit.
Lett was granted EC$15,000 bail with one surety.
He was ordered to report to the Chateaubelair Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. until the matter is disposed of.
The court also ordered him to surrender his travel documents and to seek permission of the court to leave the state.
The chief magistrate further ordered that stop notices be placed at ports of entry and exit and also imposed a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Lett.
The matter has been adjourned to Sept. 12, 2017.
Counsel, Israel Bruce held for Lett’s lawyer, Grant Connell.
Detective Constable Justin Cupid is leading the investigation.