Robbery accused remanded for setting fire to Brickdam Police Station

26-year-old Clarence Greene was on Thursday charged and remanded to prison for setting fire to the Brickdam Police Station. He was also charged with robbery under-arms. The unemployed man appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The first charge stated that on October 2, 2021, at Water Street, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Chitrannie Ramkissoon of a phone valued at $160,000.

It is also alleged that on September 2, 2021, at Brickdam, Georgetown, he set fire to a building belonging to the State- the Brickdam Police Station.

Greene was not required to plead to the indictable matters after they were read to him.

Police Prosecutor Shellon Daniels objected to bail being granted to Greene on the grounds of the serious nature of the offense and the penalty it attracts.

She also highlighted the magnitude of losses to both public and private buildings. The Chief Magistrate upheld the prosecutor’s objection and remanded Greene to prison until October 28

According to the Police,  Greene was arrested last Saturday for investigations into a robbery under-arms and was taken to the Brickdam Police Station where he was placed in the lockups with other prisoners.

In statements that were given to the police by Greene and other prisoners, it was disclosed that the fire was set using a cigarette lighter, wire, and sponge from a mattress in the lockups.

BIG Smith News Watch has been told that two prisoners in their statements claimed that after the fire was started, they were taken out of the cell and escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station.

It was while in the cell at the Sparendaam Police Station that Greene told his fellow inmates that he was the one who set the fire to the police station and detailed how he carried out the act.

According to what BIG Smith News Watch has been told, he took a piece of sponge from a mattress and wrapped it around a wire, lit it with a cigarette lighter, pushed it through the ventilation hole, and dropped it down in a part of the station where documents were being stored.

Police Headquarters said that Greene has since provided its ranks with a  video interview where he repeated the same series of events.

The 26-year-old told the police that his motive for burning down the  Brickdam Police Station complex was because he was detained for a couple of hours and he had become frustrated.

Several buildings were reduced to ashes on Saturday when the Brickdam Police Station went up in flames.

On Sunday, President Irfaan Ali slammed the Guyana Fire Service for its poor performance in battling the fire. The  Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo has since been sent on leave.