Two murder accused fear for their lives

PORT-OF-SPAIN – Layne Williams and Anton Marvin Gay, the men accused of murdering Carapichaima accountant Neeshad Ali, and kidnapping the victim’s wife, Lila, and three-year-old daughter, Aleya, Wednesday told a Chaguanas magistrate they were fearful for their lives.Williams and Gay, both of Orange Field Road, Carapichaima, stood before Senior Magistrate Gillian David-Scotland at the First Chaguanas Court shortly after 1 p.m. They told the court they did not have lawyers and requested Legal Aid attorneys.According to the four charges, on August 15 at Wohler’s Boulevard, Friendship Hall Drive, McLeod Trace, Carapichaima, the two accused murdered Ali and kidnapped Lila and Aleya for ransom. They are also charged with robbing Lila of $100 000 in jewellery and an entertainment centre valued at $7 000. The matter was adjourned to September 3.Speaking also on behalf of Gay, Williams told the magistrate he had information that he and Gay would be murdered if they were sent to the Remand Yard facility of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca. Instead, he asked David-Scotland to order that he and his co-accused be kept at the nearby Maximum Security Prison (MSP), which, he said, was much safer.Williams said: “Ma’am, could you please send us to MSP because if we go up in Golden Grove [Remand Yard], they [other prisoners] will try to kill we up dey.”In response, David-Scotland said she did not have any jurisdiction over where remand inmates were housed. She said the court also did not have any information regarding the report made by the accused about the threat.“My only concern is to remand you all this afternoon and on the next occasion, an appointment will be made to get Legal Aid lawyers for you both,” the magistrate said.“Ma’am, we not safe, yuh know. It might not have ah next time, yuh know,” Williams added. (Trinidad Express)