Man remanded on charges for gun, robbery at church
Published:Saturday | June 17, 2023 | 12:09 AMTanesha Mundle/Gleaner Writer
A MAN who lured a woman and her partner to a church and robbed them of valuables at gunpoint with an accomplice, yesterday pleaded guilty to gun and robbery charges in the Gun Court and was remanded for sentencing on July 27.
The defendant, Keddane Buchanan, had contacted the female complainant via social media under the pretence that he was interested in purchasing a cellular phone.
At the start of his trial yesterday he pleaded guilty to using a firearm to commit a felony and robbery with aggravation before Justice Yvonne Brown.
Under the new firearm legislation, the offence of Using a Firearm to commit a felony carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years.
The defendant initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but changed his mind after hearing the evidence-in-chief of the main witness.
The evidence at trial is that in November 2022, a female complainant, after being contacted by Buchanan, made arrangements for them to meet at the Central Police Station in Kingston to deliver the phone.
On November 11, the female, accompanied by her spouse, went to the location. Buchanan, however, requested that they meet at a church that was in the same area, and the complainant complied.
The couple, after arriving at the church, was seated in their vehicle when Buchanan entered the back and sat without invitation.
The couple then told him that they did not conduct business in the car, and he replied, “Everything cool man,” and attempted to hand the female an envelope, which was not taken.
Shortly after, another man entered the car. The complainant, at that point, insisted that they did not conduct business in the car while Buchanan continued saying “Everything cool”.
He then asked the complainant if they did not want to do business in the car because the second man had a gun and proceeded to tell the man to remove the gun from his belly.
The man complied, but after he did so, both he and Buchanan started screaming at the complainants to give them everything they had. Buchanan then grabbed items. including phones, and the male complainant’s wallet and left the car.
Following the robbery, the couple reported the matter, and while on their way to show the police the scene, spotted Buchanan standing on the roadway and pointed him out.
The police accosted him and took him to the Central Police Station, where valuables belonging to the complainants were found in his possession.
A phone was also taken from Buchanan, and when the female complainant was asked to ring the cell number of the potential buyer that she had met on social media, his phone rang. He was subsequently arrested and charged.
Attorney-at-law Paul Gentles is representing Buchanan.