-after road-block search
A man, who was allegedly found with a gun and a quantity of matching ammunition in his mother’s car during a police search, was remanded to prison yesterday.

Charles Telford, 24, pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, answering to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

It was alleged that on April 21, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, he had a 9mm pistol and five live matching rounds of ammunition in his possession, without having a firearm licence in force.

Telford’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos, initially made a bail application.

However, he withdrew it after being told by Telford that he would take responsibility for the firearm and ammunition. “If my mother has to go down for de gun and de bullets, I gon take de blame for it instead,” Telford told the court.

De Santos told the magistrate that on the day in question, Telford was the driving his mother’s car under the supervision of another man. He said that his client did not have a driver’s licence only a permit to drive.

He noted that the police had set up a road block at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and a stop and search exercise was conducted on the car. De Santos contended that it was not a proper exercise, since some time after, when Telford was passing the road block again, another search was conducted. It was on this occasion that the police found the gun and ammunition under the dashboard.

Prosecutor Shellon Daniels told the court that the vehicle was indeed searched twice. But on the second occasion, Daniels said, Telford blurted out to the police that he had a chopper under his seat. She also noted that it was the supervisor that was driving the vehicle when they were stopped.

The magistrate then ordered that the case be transferred to the Providence Magistrates’ Court for today.