After the prosecution repeatedly failed to produce a case file on charges against a businessman allegedly held with an AK-47 and ammunition, Magistrate Dylon Bess sitting at the Diamond Magistrate Court yesterday dismissed the charges, the man’s attorney Bernard Da Silva said
The lawyer said the magistrate freed businessman West Pickering, following his application for a dismissal based on the prosecution’s continuous demonstration of lack of preparedness.
Pickering was charged in August and placed on $700,000 bail, the lawyer said, and despite repeated warnings by the magistrate, the prosecution failed to make disclosure of statements and relevant evidence.
Yesterday was set for a peremptory hearing but again there was no file and Magistrate Bess gave the prosecution up to 1:30 to produce it, but when that time came the file was still not produced. The case was then dismissed.
Police had arrested the 42-year-old Pickering of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara on August 11th claiming that a search of his home had unearthed an illegal AK-47 assault rifle and matching ammunition.
A press release following his arrest said that an Assistant Superintendent and a team from the Providence Police Station had conducted an intelligence-led operation at Pickering’s residence at Lot 2 Somerset Court Housing Scheme, Herstelling at approximately 18:25 hrs.
The statement that the property consisted of a two-storey structure within a well-fenced yard. Pickering was informed that the police were there to search for arms, ammunition, and drugs, and he consented to the search, the release said.
During the search, it added, the police discovered the rifle wrapped in a brown towel inside a washing machine on the lower flat of the property.
When asked by the police, the release said, Pickering confirmed that he did not hold a firearm licence and he remained silent when cautioned about possessing a firearm without a licence. The release added that 29 live matching rounds were found inside a magazine, and 30 live matching rounds were discovered in a pair of black and white socks wrapped in the towel.
Police said they also found six live 9 mm rounds of ammunition in a bedroom on the upper flat of the house. Further investigation led to the discovery of a significant amount of money in a brown suitcase located in a room of the house. The release said the police found Cdn$11,312, US$ 1,583, C¥10, T&T$5,120 Bds$70, J$50, £3,405, €120 and $480,000.
It added that Pickering was arrested, and the firearm, ammunition, and cash were transported to the Providence Police Station, where the money was counted in his presence, marked, and sealed. The firearm and ammunition were also lodged.
