A man who faced previous charges in 2011 and 2019 for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, on Monday appeared in court facing similar charges.
Twenty-nine-year-old Colwin Mercurius of Lot 23 East La Penitence, Georgetown, appeared before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court where the two illegal possession of firearm charges were read to him.
Mercurius denied that on November 3, at Camp Street, Georgetown, he had in his possession a .32 Taurus pistol bearing serial number FFY49293 and four rounds of .32 ammunition when he was not a licensed firearm holder.
According to the Police Prosecutor on the day in question, the police were conducting a search exercise when a car in which Mercurius was a passenger along with several other men was stopped and searched following a request by the police. During the stop-and-search a bag containing the articles was found under the passenger seat of the car where the accused was sitting. Mercurius was informed of the allegation and then placed under arrest. Mercurius’s attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva told the court that his client was arrested while he was a passenger in a car that was stopped by the police. He said that the man was neither the owner nor the driver of the car and that he was wrongfully accused. He asked that Mercurius be released on reasonable bail.
After listening to the both the Police Prosecutor and Defence Counsel, the Magistrate granted bail $75,000 bail for each offence or in total $150,000 bail with the accompanying condition that Mercurius report to a Police Station at 9 am on the last Friday of each month until the matter is concluded. The matter was adjourned until December 6. Mercurius was similarly charged twice in 2011 and once in 2019 with each matter heard by Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton and Senior Magistrate Leron Daly respectively. This newspaper had previously reported on the 2011 matter; Mercurius had however denied those charges.
