A shopkeeper was remanded to prison on Thursday on a charge of unlawful possession of an unlicensed semi-automatic handgun, despite a tearful plea in which he denied knowledge of the weapon and accused police of making a false arrest.
“The thing is not me thing. I don’t know nothing about this thing. Please give me reasonable bail,” Jamie Myers, 28, of Lot 1 Yarrow Dam, East Ruimveldt, pleaded with Magistrate Judy Latchman at his arraignment at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, who appeared for Myers, submitted that the firearm had actually been found hidden in an umbrella in a yard and not in his client’s possession as the police are alleging in the charge.
But according to Prosecutor Renetta Bentham, the gun was in fact found in the pants pocket of Meyers.
Bentham, who also objected to bail, stated that no special reasons relating to the offence were cited in counsel’s submissions. In addition, she noted the seriousness and prevalence of the offence.
She was also concerned that if Myers was granted his pre-trial liberty, there is a possibility he may not return to court.
After the magistrate announced that he was remanded to prison until the continuation of the matter on July 15, an eager Myers, hoping to move the court’s decision, explained that he had never given any statements nor had his finger-prints taken by the police after his arrest to connect with him the offence.
“A van come in front my home and they [the police] said they found this thing and is my own. I got my children and my wife to look after,” he said.
Maintaining her decision, the magistrate repeated that the defendant was remanded until July 15, when he will return for fixture of a date for the commencement of trial.
