Nikhail Hudson, described as a “church boy” by his lawyer, was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, which police say he was found with during a sting operation.
Hudson, 20, of 29 Green Acres, Providence, East Bank Demerara, was brought into the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, who read the two charges to him.
The first charge read to the accused stated that on June 26th, at Robb Street, he had a 9 mm pistol in his possession without being a licensed firearm holder.
It was also alleged that on the same date, Hudson had eight live 9 mm rounds.
Hudson denied both charges.
Attorney Siand Dhurjon, who represented the accused, described Hudson as a respected church goer of the Heavenly Life Church, and assistant manager of Teepee Suites. He then went on to state that his client was misled into doing something he ought not to have done.
Dhurjon noted that on the day in question, Hudson was found in the backseat of a car with two other occupants. The attorney then said that the firearm was found in the custody of the passenger of the vehicle.
Dhurjon urged the court to grant his client bail, while noting that Hudson was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, police prosecutor Gordon Mansfield told the court a different story. According to the prosecutor, ranks from the Narcotics Branch at the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters conducted a sting operation, which led them to Robb Street in the vicinity of Nigel’s Supermarket. There, he said, the police observed the defendant leave a parked car and proceed to another parked car, which was silver-coloured, opposite Nigel’s Supermarket. According to the prosecutor, the defendant spent about five minutes before exiting the vehicle and heading in a northern direction along Light Street. About five minutes later, Hudson was seen heading back into the silver-coloured car where he returned to the back seat. He was then intercepted by the police, who carried out a search on him and the firearm and ammunition mentioned in the charge were found in the crotch of his pants.
Hudson was then shown the firearm and cautioned, according to Mansfield, resulting in him saying that a man named “Trevor” gave the weapon to him. The prosecutor went on to state that the accused also gave a statement under caution to the police.
Based on the fact that no special reason was presented to the court, the prosecutor objected to the accused being granted bail.
The Chief Magistrate remanded Hudson and the matter was adjourned until July 18th, when it is expected to be called before Magistrate Fabayo Azore.
