A 15-year-old schoolboy and his 17-year-old friend were yesterday denied bail on arms and ammunition charges. The La Romaine teenagers appeared before Second Court magistrate Roger Ramgoolam in the San Fernando First Court. On hearing that bail was refused, the teenagers' relatives broke down in tears, with one woman screaming as she left the courtroom. The boys were held with a home-made shotgun and a 12-gauge cartridge at South Trunk Road, La Romaine, on Monday.
Their attorney, Mewahlal Chatoor, said the younger teenager attended a secondary school in south Trinidad, while the other was pursuing a course in welding. Chatoor said the teenagers had been in custody since Monday. He said his instructions were that they had no previous convictions or pending matters. The magistrate, however, remanded them to the Youth Training Centre for a fingerprint trace to determine if this was their first brush with the law. They will reappear in court tomorrow.