Arson accused West End resident was denied bail and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after his alleged involvement in setting a house and a garage ablaze.
He is 30-year-old Alexander Jarvis of Towers West End who appeared virtually before Magistrate Khadeen Palmer on Wednesday January 26, charged with two counts of arson, which are indictable offenses.
Alexander is accused of setting a fire to an auto mechanic garage owned by Godfrey Gabriel and a wooden house owned by Kareem Hall which both are situated on the property owned by Jarvis.
According to the information revealed by the prosecution, the property where both Gabriel and Hall occupied were leased to the two individuals to support Jarvis’ father who has a disability.
Summary of Allegations
The court heard that in early January there was a verbal argument between Jarvis and Gabriel. The argument ended with Jarvis allegedly threatening to burn down Gabriel’s garage since in his opinion Gabriel was acting like a “bad man”.
On January 19 – the day of the incident – another argument between the two men occurred with Jarvis accusing Gabriel who at the time was working in his garage, of using a towel belonging to him.
Gabriel denied the accusations and according to the prosecution, Jarvis once again threatened to burn down the mechanic’s garage.
It was said that the accused after a brief verbal back and forth entered his home and returned with a gas can, and started to sprinkle the gas on Gabriel’s garage. Thereafter, the accused left and returned with matches and allegedly lit the garage.
This prompted Gabriel to swiftly react as he located enough water to extinguish the fire. He also swiftly removed the vehicles in his garage and headed to the West End Police Station to make a complaint.
The prosecution said it was at this time that the complainant while at the station received a call from someone that his garage was once again set ablaze. Gabriel said that substantial damage was sustained to the garage amounting to thousands of dollars in damages.
The fire as stated by the prosecution was so extensive, that it caused damage to the structure of Hall’s home and resulted in him losing some of his personal belongings.
Police later arrested the accused who, according to the prosecution, denied the allegations.
Bail denied
Jarvis’ attorney Valerie Gordan’s strongest argument was that bail should be granted to her client on humanitarian grounds.
She said she was informed that there were more than 30 current positive COVID-19 cases among inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison in Balsam Ghut and feared the environment would put her client at risk of contracting the virus.
Magistrate Palmer after considering the argument by the attorney denied bail, adding that the crime of arson is one of the most serious offenses in the territory which can result in a convicted person being sentenced to life in prison.
The case was adjourned until February 24 where a psychological assessment will be conducted on Jarvis and a report of the findings issued to the courts.