Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry remanded three Kitty residents accused of having a gun and a quantity of ammunition in their possession without licence, when they yesterday appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
It is alleged that on Sep-tember 23, at Kitty, George-town, Aubrey Denny, 20, of 52 Pere Street, Kitty; Nicholas Sanko, 22 of 215 David Street, Kitty and 23-year-old Orino Collier of 67 Public Road, Kitty had in their possession one .38 revolver without licence. On the same day, the young men were also accused of having in their possession four rounds of ammunition without licence.
The trio pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of a firearm and ammunition without licence. Their attorney, Mark Waldron expressed outrage at the charges which he described as trumped up and baseless; accusing the police of not having any evidence to support the charges.
He told the court that his clients have no knowledge of the charges and have always maintained their innocence. He said too the investigating ranks were initially acting upon information received and responding to a suspicion of possession of narcotics. He said when they came up empty-handed for narcotic possession; they then charged the men with the said crimes.
“No gun and ammo or narcotic was ever found on my clients,” Waldron said. “They were clearly out to charge my clients for anything madam and that is why these young men are before you; but it must be known that they have done absolutely nothing wrong,” he pointed out.
Prosecutor Lionel Harvey told the court that on the said day the trio was standing in front of Denny’s residence when the police, acting on information received, conducted a search.
The search unearthed the gun and ammunition tucked away under a pile of clothing in a wardrobe located in Denny’s bedroom.
Contesting the facts presented by the prosecution, the lawyer said that at no time were his clients fingerprinted nor was the supposed gun or ammunition tested for fingerprints. Harvey said however, that the men, who were all friends, were present when police conducted the search and as such they all have knowledge of the matter. He then made an application for the trio to be remanded.
After listening to the prosecutor, Waldron asked rhetorically for the police to then show the nexus between the gun and ammo found in Denny’s house and Sanko and Collier’s presence at the house.
“Even if these items were found in Mr. Denny’s house what does it have to do with his two friends? Visiting your friend’s house automatically means that you are apart of every activity in which they are involved?” Waldron asked the court.
He then asked the court to grant the three men bail, at a reasonable sum on the grounds that they have no antecedents, have fixed addresses, pose no flight risk and have been cooperating with the police in their investigations.
Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry then advised the lawyer and prosecutor that she wanted to deliberate on Waldron’s bail application and requested that he [Waldron] return at 1:30 pm. She later remanded the men and ordered them to appear in Court Five on Monday.
