🔓 Suspects in cashless bank robbery case acquitted

Richard Andre Scott and Mark Alexander Beckett, the two men accused of a robbery at a cashless branch of Scotiabank in Grand Harbour last June, have been acquitted of all charges. The charges included robbery, attempted robbery, and possession of an imitation gun. Despite the crown presenting what they believed to be strong circumstantial evidence from CCTV footage and DNA, there was no direct identification of either man, leading the jury to find both men not guilty. 🏛️

The robbers were tracked from a residence in Crewe Road, George Town, to the bank, where they took cash from a woman who had used the ATM. They were unable to get more since this bank does not hold cash. After the robbery, the men were chased by the woman's husband, who caught Scott. However, Scott claimed he was not the robber but had simply been riding his bicycle nearby at the time. 🚲

Throughout the seven-week trial, the jury was presented with hours of CCTV footage and arguments about the defendants' connection to the crime via their clothes and the DNA found on the bike. Despite the prosecution's arguments about the number of coincidences that would have to have occurred for the men not to be guilty, defence attorneys Stacy-Ann Kelly and Keith Myers were able to persuade the jury that there was doubt over the identity of the robbers. ⚖️