A man who was found with a quantity of firecrackers on Deepavali night was granted $10,000 bail yesterday when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Christopher Paul pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful possession of explosives.
On October 28, at Alexander Village, Paul had in his possession a quantity of firecrackers, without having the relevant permit.
The prosecution stated that on the day in question around 19:00 hours, a policeman was on foot patrol in the Alexander Village community when he observed Paul acting in a suspicious manner. A search was later conducted on Paul’s person and the police found a quantity of red, blue and yellow firecrackers in his right-side pants’ pocket. Paul was then told of the offence, arrested and later charged.

“I know it was six scratch bombs that I had and I din know it was illegal,” Paul told the court. He said he had gotten the firecrackers from a friend but was not aware of the danger of detonating them since he lived the majority of his life in the interior.

However, the magistrate placed Paul on bail in the sum of $10,000 and ordered that he return to court tomorrow since the prosecution has to evaluate the act and regulations related to the charge.