Three men, who were charged last December with illegal possession of guns and ammunition, were freed of the charges yesterday by a city magistrate due to insufficient evidence.
City Magistrate Judy Latchman dismissed the charges against Mark Anthony, Andrew Davis-Escott, and Brian Escott, who were on trial for carrying an unlicensed sawn-off pump action shotgun with matching rounds and an unlicensed .32 revolver with matching rounds, on December 5th, 2015 at Robb Street.
Their co-accused, the now deceased Lance Corporal Aaron Eastman, perished in last month’s fatal Camp Street fire.
The magistrate dismissed the charges after the prosecution’s failure to provide a key piece of evidence that was to be tested and admitted into evidence. Given the fact that this was not done, the prosecution was asked to close its case by Magistrate Latchman, who subsequently dismissed the charges.
Police had said that on the day in question, concerned citizens had seen the four defendants acting suspiciously and summoned the police, who responded and found Eastman in the driver’s seat wearing a black hoodie.
A search was then conducted and a .32 revolver with matching rounds as well as a 12-gauge shotgun with matching cartridges were recovered under the front passenger seat and the driver’s seat, respectively.
