Log In

Reset Password
BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Witness: ‘I saw all three people’s faces clear’

Zharrin Simmons is accused of armed robbery.(Photo by Mark Tatem)

A robbery victim described how a woman wielding “a sword-like object” attacked him along with two male accomplices.Kenneth Williams told Supreme Court he pulled one of the male robbers in front of the woman — alleged to be 20-year-old Zharrin Simmons — to use as a shield.According to prosecutors, Ms Simmons accidentally caught her accomplice Ezra Williams, 27, on the hand with the weapon as a result.Kenneth Williams, 22, told the jury the first male robber had a knife in his right hand and tried to stab him as he attempted to wrestle the knife free.A second man — alleged to be Ezra Ararat, 25 — punched him and searched his pockets, stealing his BlackBerry cell phone. Then, he said, the woman arrived.“She had a sword like object. She was trying to hit me with it,” Mr Williams told the court. “I used the first guy — I pulled the first guy in the way so she would hit him.”He described how the woman ran off as he fought the first robber for the knife.Kenneth Williams admitted that he and his friend Victoria Decoute, 17, were waiting to buy cannabis when they were robbed.He said they were in a car on Hermitage Road, Devonshire, with the windows wound down on the night of August 27, 2011 when three robbers struck.He explained that Ms Decoute tried to help him while he was being attacked. According to prosecutors, Ms Simmons hit her and stole her gold jewellery before she escaped.Kenneth Williams suffered a deep wound to his right calf during the robbery.He told the court it needed 25 staples and two stitches and he had to stay in hospital for three days. He also suffered cuts to his hand and arm while trying to grab the knife.Ms Decoute suffered cuts and bruises.Kenneth Williams told the court he recognised the three alleged robbers now on trial — Ezra Williams, his brother Ezra Ararat and Ms Simmons — and picked them out during an identification parade.Prosecutor Garrett Byrne told the court during his opening speech that a knife and machete were recovered at the home in nearby Boundary Crescent where Mr Ararat lived.He showed the witness the weapons and Mr Williams confirmed they looked like the ones he was attacked with.Cross-examined by Mr Ararat’s lawyer Charles Richardson about his original police statement on the issue, Mr Williams admitted he lied about what happened that night.He told police he’d been waiting to meet his cousin at the scene, which was not true, and did not mention drugs.“I didn’t want to mention the marijuana because it’s illegal,” Mr Williams explained in court yesterday.He admitted the truth to prosecutors days before the trial was due to begin.Mr Richardson suggested Kenneth Williams was wrong, and the second robber was not Mr Ararat.Mr Ararat admits being at the scene, but claims he was only there to rescue his brother from being attacked by two people, during which he got chopped himself.Kenneth Williams insisted that he is sure of his account.“I saw all three people’s faces clear,” he added.Ezra Williams — who is representing himself — suggested Kenneth Williams met him that night to buy drugs.Kenneth Williams agreed that was the case.However, Ezra Williams then claimed he was “viciously attacked” by a knife-wielding Kenneth Williams and Ms Decoute — not the other way round.Kenneth Williams denied that, stating: “We never left [that night] to rob anyone. We left to pick up marijuana.”Ezra Williams suggested: “You and Victoria kicked and punched me while I was on the ground.”However, the witness replied: “I totally disagree with that.”Mr Ararat, of Devonshire, and Ms Simmons and Mr Williams, of Pembroke, deny robbery. The case continues.