A man accused of robbing the Hell gas station with a toy gun that shattered during the incident has denied the charges.
Appearing before the Grand Court on Friday, 13 Jan., Alvin Shaquille Ebanks entered not guilty pleas to a single charge of robbery and another charge of possession of an imitation firearm.
The charges stem from an incident on 5 Dec. 2022 at the Hell gas station in West Bay around 8:45pm.
Ebanks, 25, is alleged to have been one of two masked men who held up the service station before making off with an undisclosed sum of cash in a grey Honda Civic. The other robber has not been arrested.
According to police, at the time of the robbery, the gun was damaged during a struggle with the staff member and was left behind.
During a press conference on 19 Dec., RCIPS Detective Superintendent Peter Lansdown alluded to the incident, saying the gun “shattered to pieces after it was used to hit one of the victims”.
During Ebanks’ arraignment on Friday, prosecutor Scott Wainwright told the court, “The items that are outstanding are the forensic evidence”.
He added, “A partially burnt box for a toy gun, along with clothing which the prosecution says matches the clothing used to commit the robbery, was found a short distance from the defendant’s home.”
A four-day jury trial has been set for 27 Feb., and Ebanks was remanded into custody.
This robbery was one of 47 armed robberies during 2022 and occurred during a period of sustained violent crimes ahead of the Christmas season – which prompted officers to increase their efforts across the island.
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