Taxi driver gets eight months for breaching protection order

A 31-year-old taxi driver recently arrested in connection to the kidnapping of his 37-year-old girlfriend was sentenced to eight months imprisonment on Monday after pleading guilty to breaching a protection order made against him.

Ronald Balgobin, of Lot 758 Cinderella City Linden and Lot 1058 Amelia’s Ward, Linden pleaded not guilty to the allegation of kidnapping.

A police statement on Tuesday said that Balgobin, who had been evading law enforcement officers, was charged with the offense of abduction, contrary to Section 4 of the Kidnapping Act, Chapter 10:05. The man was also charged with breach of Protection Order, contrary to Section 16(1) of the Family Violence Act of 2024 #14.

The offenses are said to have been committed against Basmattie “Penny” Bassant, a housewife residing at Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The incident reportedly occurred on October 27, 2024, at approximately 10:00 hrs at Annandale, ECD.

Balgobin appeared at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court before His Worship Sunil Scarce where the abduction charge was read. For this crime the accused was remanded to prison until March 13th, 2025. For the Breach of Protection Order, Balgobin was imprisoned.

Days after the police had issued a wanted bulletin for Balgobin, the man was found hiding under a bed at a residence in Land of Canaan on the East Bank of Demerara. Two other persons were arrested with Balgobin for harbouring a wanted person.

Bassant had taken to social media expressing fear for her life as she detailed a harrowing story of abduction by her ex-lover and two male accomplices. The woman said she was abducted wearing just a bath towel and was taken to the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. She was rescued when she frantically screamed out to a passing police patrol vehicle.