Liquor store robbery suspects request full 12-man jury

(CNS): Three men charged with an armed heist at the Blackbeard’s liquor store the week before Christmas last year have asked for a jury of twelve, rather than the usual seven people, to try their case and the court has agreed. But after more than an hour spent selecting the eight women and four men, a failure to explain the particulars of the case until after the panel was sworn in led to two members being discharged and the need to go through the process all over again Tuesday before the case opens.

The trial of Randy Connor, Andrew Lopez and Bron Webb is, however, scheduled to start today at 10am after another selection process.

The defendants are are accused of robbing the store’s cashier at Grand Harbour of over $5,000 in local and US currency at gunpoint, as well as robbing a female customer of her purse containing cash, a driver’s license, a credit card and personal possessions.

All three men, who were arrested less than a half hour after the heist, have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, which include possession of an unlicensed firearm after police seized a  functioning shotgun from the premises where the men were arrested.

The armed robbery trial has been described as “complex” by the defence and is expected to last some three weeks. Cheryl Richards QC, the director of public prosecutions, will be presenting the case for the crown. While local defence lawyers John Furniss and Christer Brady are representing Connor, two QCs from the UK will lead the defence for the other two men. Lopez is represented by Bernard Tetlow and Amelia Fosuhene from Stenning and Associates and Webb by Brendan Kelly and Alice Carver from Samson and McGrath.

The Grand Harbour liquor store has been the victim of a number of armed robberies. In April this year it was robbed by a machete-wielding robber who has still not been caught, as well as the now infamous “not today BoBo” heist in 2011, when two teenagers armed with a shotgun were apprehended by members of the public as they tried to make their escape.

Jordon Powell, who was 18 at the time, and Jonathan Welcome, who was just 17, were both jailed for six years after they pleaded guilty to robbery.