THE men accused of the armed robbery outside of the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) at Point Cruz earlier this year are still waiting for prosecution to withdraw some of the charges against them.
Prosecution had on a previous court hearing conformed considering withdrawing the unlawful wounding charges against Stanley Ramo, Eric Junior Nathaniel, Richard Rurai and Ben Farobo except for David Faiga.
Billy Deodore and Milton Gwaliasi are also waiting for prosecution to withdraw the receiving charges against them after prosecution considered withdrawing the charges.
These two accused are not part of the actual robbery incident but were accused of receiving part of the stolen money that was proceeds of the robbery incident.
Public Prosecutor Ishmael Kekou appeared in court yesterday but did not make that withdrawal as prosecution is yet to finalise the opinion rendered to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Shepherd Lapo therefore adjourned the matter to August 9 for prosecution to consider those charges so that the matter can further progress on to the next stage.
Prosecution is considering withdrawing unlawful charges against the men due to insufficient evidence found regarding unlawful charges and receiving charges.
Farobo, Faiga, Ramo, Rurai and Nathaniel are accused of the robbery on the morning of 18 January outside of the former Westpac bank, now the BSP.
They allegedly robbed a carton containing $1 million from two Asians who were on their way into the bank to make deposits.
Prosecution alleged that while one of the accused waited in a car parked outside the bank, others went and attacked the complainant and grabbed the carton containing the money.
They allegedly escaped in the car but were shortly arrested, charged and remanded in custody.
Police alleged that the men were all masked and one of them was armed with a knife.
Some of the accused are represented by private lawyers while the rest are represented by the Public Solicitor’s Office.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
