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Jury finds trio guilty of robbery

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Zharrin Simmons (Photo by Mark Tatem)

Two brothers and young woman were yesterday found guilty of ambushing two people attempting to buy drugs and robbing them at knife point.However, two of the robbers found themselves needing medical attention after one of the victims fought back.A jury yesterday afternoon found brothers Ezra Williams, 27, and Ezra (EJ) Ararat, 25, along with 20-year-old Zharrin Simmons guilty of two counts of robbery in relation to an incident on Hermitage Road on August 27 last year.During the trial, the jury heard that 22-year-old Kenneth Williams and 17-year-old Victoria Decoute, contacted Ezra Williams on the evening in question to purchase cannabis.They then drove to Hermitage Road, near the hardware store SAL, and at some time between 8.30pm and 8.45pm, they were approached and attacked by the complainants, wielding a knife and a machete.The brothers stole a BlackBerry cell phone from Kenneth William’s pocket and tore a necklace from Ms Decoute’s neck when she attempted to intervene.Kenneth Williams struggled against his attackers and suffered an eight-inch cut to his calf while Ms Decoute suffered black eyes and a cut to her neck.During the fight, the court hear that Simmons accidentally hacked Ezra Williams in the arm with a machete.Following the incident, Ezra Williams and Simmons were both recognised by Ms Decoute at King Edward VII Memorial. The victims were later able to identify all three defendants in a identification parade.Police investigating the attack also discovered a trail of blood droplets leading from the scene of the attack to Ezra Williams’ Pembroke home. A search of the home revealed a machete hidden behind a brick and a knife on his bedroom floor.Prosecutor Garrett Byrne argued that the bladed articles were the ones used in the robbery, but defence attorney Charles Richardson, representing Ararat, noted that there was no blood or DNA evidence linking the items to the attack.Both Mr Richardson and lawyer Marc Daniels, who represented Simmons, attacked the credibility of the witnesses, noting that the complainants had lied under oath in Magistrates’ Court regarding the incident.Both Kenneth Williams and Ms Decoute had told investigating officers that they went to Hermitage Road to pick up their cousin, only admitting that their real intention was to purchase drugs in June.Asked why they lied, they told the court that they didn’t want to mention the cannabis because it is illegal.Regarding the robbery, Ezra Williams told the court that the victims had attacked him, and Ararat claimed he intervened to protect his brother before being attacked by an unidentified third person wielding a machete.Simmons claimed that she was at her father’s home in Deep Dale at the time of the robbery and had nothing to do with the incident.Mr Daniels told the court that she may have been named by the complainants because of her well-publicised history in the courts.Simmons was one of five teenagers charged with the 2008 murder of 18-year-old Kellon Hill on Elbow Beach. She was acquitted on the direction of Judge Charles-Etta Simmons, who found she had no case to answer.After the verdicts were read, acting Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe remanded all three defendants into custody and ordered social inquiry reports be carried out.The defendants will appear during the August arraignments session for a sentencing date to be decided.

Ezra Williams and Ezra Ararat (Photo by Mark Tatem)