Suspended police constable Samuel Gardener, 28, was denied bail yesterday when he appeared before a Justice of the Peace in the San Fernando Magistrates Court charged with larceny of $28,000 in building material. Gardener, who was held at a road block transporting material suspected to be stolen from the University of the West Indies south campus, is expected to make his first appearance before a San Fernando magistrate today.
Gardener, through his attorney Subhas Panday, applied to Justice of the Peace Chandra Hosein for bail, but was turned down when court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan raised an objection to the bail. Seedan said Gardener should be treated the same as everyone else and should not be afforded any special treatment.
When he was escorted out of the court building, Gardener hid his face from media photographers while members of his family shouted for him to hide his face properly. According to reports, around 2 am on Saturday, officers of the San Fernando Police Station were on patrol on the M2 Ring Road when they spotted a truck loaded with material being driven along the road.
When the officers stopped the truck, the passenger opened the door and ran off into the bushes. When Gardener was questioned, he said he had found the material at the side of the road. However, around 1.45 am, a report was made to the San Fernando Police about a robbery at the UWI south campus.
Two security guards on duty told officers they were tied up by two men who entered the compound. The men said when they were able to untie themselves, they discovered the building materials had been stolen.