A 44-year-old carpenter from Layou is set to make his next court appearance on July 16 to face three distinct arson charges connected to a deliberate fire that destroyed a residential structure and personal property worth nearly EC$23,000 in total.
The defendant, Ray Patterson, made his initial arraignment on June 8 at the Serious Offences Court, where Chief Magistrate Colin John presided over the hearing. Court documents outline three separate charges stemming from the June 5 incident in Layou.
The first charge alleges that Patterson intentionally destroyed a 16-by-16-foot wooden dwelling by fire without legal justification. The home, valued at EC$12,000, is owned by Cardin Patterson, another Layou resident. The second charge adds the allegation that Patterson committed the arson with the explicit intent to endanger another person’s life. Finally, the third charge accuses him of burning multiple personal items belonging to Resha Crooke, also of Layou, with a combined assessed value of EC$10,970. These items include a 100-dollar gas cylinder, two full-size mattresses priced at EC$400 apiece, a wardrobe of clothing worth EC$6,000, academic textbooks valued at EC$500, and a tablet computer worth EC$300.
Because the case has been sent forward on indictment, no plea was accepted from Patterson during this initial procedural hearing. Chief Magistrate John granted bail in the amount of EC$10,000, which requires one surety to be approved by the court.
As part of the bail conditions, Patterson has been mandated to check in regularly at the Layou Police Station every Tuesday until the legal proceedings are fully resolved. He has also received a formal order barring any contact, direct or indirect, with complainant Resha Crooke while the case is pending.