Three men, in two different cases, were yesterday brought before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court facing charges of illegal possession of live ammunition and illegal possession of a firearm.
Jameed Farley and his co-defendant Phillip Mc Pherson, both 20 years old, were charged with possessing 4.5 rounds live ammunition without a licence on December 19 at the Ogle International Airport.
The men were also charged with having a 4.5 pistol firearm without a licence. Both men pleaded guilty when Chief Magistrate Priya-Sewnarine Beharry read the charges to them.
According to Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, the defendants went to Air Services Ltd at Ogle and a security guard on duty noticed Mc Pherson passing the aforementioned firearm to Farley.
The guard informed the police of his observation and the men were subsequently apprehended and searched. The search, Mangru said, revealed the ammunition and firearm.
According to Euclin Gomes, who represented Farley, the young man is a student at Global Technology and has an unblemished record. Mc Pherson, who was unrepresented, also claimed to be a student.
After an objection to bail from Prosecutor Mangru on the grounds that no special reasons had been given by the defence for bail, the men were remanded until December 23 where they are to make their next appearance at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
In a separate case, Ashik Mohammad was also remanded to prison by Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry for the possession of 9.4 rounds of live ammunition and the possession of a Taurus pistol. Mohammad pleaded guilty to the first charge and not guilty to the second.
It is alleged that on December 19 at Palm Court plainclothes police officers were in the nightspot when they observed a man acting suspiciously. After a while, the officers witnessed the man pass a firearm to Mohammad.
According to Prosecutor Mangru, the officers approached the duo and informed the men that they were policemen.
The suspicious man, Mangru continued, made good his escape. Mohammad was held and charged.
According to Mohammad’s lawyer, Adrian Thompson, the firearm had not been found on his client but rather on the ground. The weapon, Thompson continued, had been thrown at the defendant and not handed to him.
For the prosecution’s case there are four witnesses, Mangru stated.
Bail was objected to by the prosecutor and Mohammad was remanded to prison until January 15.
