Jobe Caesar, a national footballer, was yesterday remanded to prison on two charges, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
It is alleged that on November 13th, 24-year-old Caesar of Bent Street, Werk-en-Rust, had in his possession at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue one .32 Taurus pistol without being the holder of a firearm licence. It is further alleged that on the said date and address, he illegally had 6 live rounds of .32 ammunition. Caesar pleaded not guilty to both charges.
During the proceedings, the court heard that on the day in question, police ranks in plain clothes acted on information received and went to the National Gymnasium where they saw Caesar acting in a suspicious manner. The ranks identified themselves as police officers and carried out a search on the defendant where a gun was found in Caesar’s crotch. He was told of the offence, cautioned and escorted to the Police Station where he admitted to the offence.
Police Prosecutor Shaundel Chapman objected to bail on the grounds that the gun was found on the accused and that he was previously charged with a similar offence. Chapman also said that if the defendant is granted bail, he might flee the country since the borders are currently open. After hearing the prosecution’s objection to bail, Caesar’s Attorney, Everton Singh-Lammy, quickly stood up and made a bail application for his client. In his bail application, Singh-Lammy argued on the grounds of multiple occupancy by stating that the gun was not found in his client’s crotch, but rather, on the ground of the gymnasium, where at that time Caesar was with several other friends. He stated that Caesar also had no knowledge of the gun.
The attorney strongly rebutted the prosecutor’s claim of a previous similar offence and asked the prosecution to provide evidence to support its grounds for objection. After departing from the courtroom to check for the file, Prosecutor Chapman returned and said that he was advised that the file was destroyed in the fire that gutted the Brickdam Police Station. Hearing this, Singh-Lammy immediately stood at the bar table and accused the police of “lying”. The attorney went on to argue that the prosecution does not have proof to support their objection to bail and also that they have insufficient evidence to prove that the national footballer will abscond.
After hearing both sides of the bail argument, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus refused Caesar bail. Caesar will make his next court appearance on December 12th. Based on articles that were published by this newspaper, In September of 2018, Caesar was charged with assaulting a police officer. He was found guilty and in June of 2019 sentenced to six months behind bars. Additionally, the national footballer was charged in January of 2019 with armed robbery and damage to property. It was alleged that he used a gun to commit both offences. Although he was granted $150,000 in February of 2019, the bail was revoked in March of the said year after Caesar breached a restraining order that was taken out against him by the virtual complainant.
