Witness: I saw the guy pull the gun
A witness ducked for cover behind his motorbike as he watched a gunman open fire and kill footballer Randy Robinson, a Supreme Court jury has heard.The witness said he wasn’t sure at the time if he’d been hit by a bullet himself as he witnessed the shooting.Moments earlier he had seen Mr Robinson walking along Border Lane North, in Devonshire. Two men rode up on a motorbike and one pulled out a handgun, he told the court.“There was no exchange of words. The guys just stopped in the middle of the road and started shooting,” he said.“I saw the guy pull the gun; the gun was in his hand. I thought ‘Oh my God!’ Boom, boom, boom.”He said the gunman fired four or five shots in total. When the shooters rode away he ran to check on Mr Robinson.The witness, who cannot be named due to a court order, told police in a videotaped interview: “At first I didn’t know if the guy was dead or not. I was asking him if he was all right.“I checked his pulse. It was really light but he was alive at the time. When I checked him again his body just went limp. I knew he was dead right then.”Asked for a description of the shooters, he said both men were wearing black clothes and black helmets with tinted visors. Because they remained seated on the bike, he said it was difficult to say the size of the killers, but the pillion passenger appeared larger than the rider.While he said he didn’t think to look at the motorcycle’s licence plate, he told officers the vehicle was a black Scoopy 125.He said the shooters went in the direction of The Glebe Road, riding away casually rather than speeding away.“It was like a normal cruise down the hill,” he said.Devon Hewey, 24, and 23-year-old Jay Dill have both been charged with the premeditated murder of Mr Robinson, and using a firearm to commit the offence on March 31, 2011. They have denied all charges.According to prosecutors, Mr Dill was the gunman while Mr Hewey operated the motorcycle.Also taking the stand in court yesterday was Anternette Cole, the mother of Mr Hewey. She said her son bought a bulletproof vest after their home was repeatedly the target of gunfire.Mrs Cole told the court that she saw Mr Hewey at their home on Palmetto Road shortly after 6pm on the day of the shooting while he was getting ready to leave the house.She said she was not sure when he left the house, and did not ask where he was going.Mrs Cole said she spent most of the evening in the house talking with a friend and someone interested in staying in a spare bedroom. At some stage, the would-be tenant received a text message informing him that there had been a shooting.Minutes before 9pm, she said received a phone call from Mr Hewey asking her if she could let the dog out because he was coming home soon.Around five minutes later she saw Mr Hewey and Mr Dill walking to the house, each holding helmets.While she said both young men slept in the downstairs bedroom that Mr Hewey shared with his older brother, she remained awake because she “knew in her heart” the police would be coming to her house.Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Shade Subair, she said that police had come to her house for Mr Hewey on several occasions after shootings.She also told the court her house had been shot at on three occasions, but none of the incidents had been reported to the police.“Devon didn’t think that they would have done anything for him,” she said. “They wouldn’t protect him so he didn’t want them.”Mrs Cole said that Mr Hewey had purchased a bulletproof vest to protect himself, and while he didn’t have a motorcycle of his own, had taken to parking any borrowed motorcycles in bushes on their neighbour’s property.She also told the court that Mr Hewey’s older brother Damien had left the Island after being threatened by the Parkside gang.Inspector Ian Tomkins said that at the time of the shooting he and Assistant Commissioner David Mirfield were off duty, attending a rugby game at National Stadium, when they heard gunshots.Both officers immediately got into a police vehicle and headed in the direction of the shots. After being directed by the public to Border Lane North, they found the body of Mr Robinson in the road. Other officers were also arriving at the scene.“Mr Mirfield approached the body,” Insp Tomkins said. “I watched as he checked for signs of life. He informed me there were none.”The court heard evidence from Brenda Davidson, who examined Mr Robinson’s body at King Edward VII Memorial, and declared him dead at 10.35pm.Dr Davidson found Mr Robinson had been killed by internal injuries caused by one gunshot wound to the chest and as many as three to the right side of his forehead.The trial continues today.
The jury in the murder trial yesterday expressed concerns about their safety after suspicious behaviour from someone in the public gallery at the Supreme Court.
According to a letter, written by the jury and read to the court by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves, the individual stared at the jury and appeared to have a cell phone, which could be used to take pictures of the jury.
The letter said the same individual was also seen outside the courtroom when the jury went to take a break.
While the jury expressed concerns about a perceived lack of security in the courtroom, Justice Greaves said there was more security at the courts than there appeared.
“It was decided not to alarm you by telling you the extent to which our security is. I can assure you that prior to this trial I was briefed about the security arrangements,” he said. “Some are invisible to the naked eyes, but they are really there.”
Given the concerns voiced by the jury, Justice Greaves said he would work to increase the security presence at the court even further, both in the form of uniformed officers and “others where you might not see the armour”.
He also strongly cautioned all those present against photographing the jury or doing anything that might even be perceived to be influencing the jury, warning that there would be harsh penalties for such actions.
