A 20-year-old university student facing several charges was remanded to prison for the next 28 days, after a prosecutor lodged strong objections to the court granting him bail.
Ivorii Michael Durwood Grosvenor, of Valley Development, St George, will make his next appearance before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on November 3, in connection with offences he allegedly committed on October 1.
Grosvenor is accused of unlawfully and maliciously or recklessly engaging in conduct that placed Alexandria Oneale and Zara Barker in danger of death or serious bodily harm. He is further charged with assaulting the same two females, occasioning them actual bodily harm, as well as having in his possession an offensive weapon, namely a cutlass, along Bay Street, a public place.
While some of the charges were indictable and others were summary matters, Police Constable Ralph Rollock asked the court to keep them together as they resulted from the same circumstances.
Michael Lashley Q.C., who represented the accused along with attorneys Simon Clarke and Sade Harris, had objected to that request, saying that the defence’s preference was for the matters to be dealt with separately.
“In the interest of judicial time, I believe that’s the way it should go,” Lashley said, but Rollock argued that keeping the matters together would actually save time.
After Acting Magistrate Krystal Delaney ruled in favour of the prosecution, the Police Constable then “vehemently” objected to bail for the accused.
He grounded his submissions on the nature and seriousness of the charges before the court.
“This was done in the full view of the public in high afternoon,” Rollock submitted, to which Lashley objected saying that the prosecutor was going into the evidence.
Rollock continued: “The fact that a cutlass was used and the strength of the evidence. The complainant had made several complaints to the police with respect to the accused. Fears that if granted bail at this time he will interfere with the complainants. A vehicle was used to assault the two virtual complainants; they were hit.”
However, Lashley submitted that his client was a fit and proper candidate for bail as he has no previous convictions or pending matters before the court, has strong community ties and is a university student.
He said the prosecution had not put forward any evidence that the accused would not show up for his trial if granted bail.
“The prosecutor cannot just get up and make naked statements when you cannot provide an inch of evidence. Based on the ground of the strength of the evidence, we do not have any pre-trial disclosure. My client is a good candidate for bail.
“We don’t know what remand will do to him in relation to his progress and studies,” the defence counsel added.
Lashley then urged the court to exercise its discretion in his client’s favour and impose conditions such as reporting to a police station and adhering to a curfew.
After considering the submissions, Magistrate Delaney denied Grosvenor bail and remanded him to Dodds.
