A Redemption Sharpes man who was nabbed with a loaded .357 magnum revolver in his crotch after 9 p.m. in Lodge Village told the court that he had no “lethal or destructive” intention.
“My intention was never lethal or destructive or anything like that. I do farming so I was on my way from the mountain,” the man, Adonis Francis, 21, told Senior Magistrate Tamika Mc Kenzie at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Francis will be sentenced on Friday on charges that he had the firearm and nine rounds of .38 ammunition in his possession at Lodge Village on Monday, without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.
In addition to the six rounds in the firearm, Francis had three rounds in his pocket when Sergeant of Police Marle Lewis and other officers from the Special Services Unit intercepted him during a patrol of the Central Kingstown community.
Francis pleaded guilty to the charges. However, Mc Kenzie adjourned his sentencing to Friday after there appeared to have been some confusion about whether the maximum sentence the court could impose was seven or 10 years.
On April 4, Parliament amended the Firearms Act, approving stiffer penalties for some firearm offences and creating new offences, including against trafficking in firearms and the 3D printing of firearms.
The revised law moved from EC$20,000 and seven years in prison to EC$25,000 and 10 years imprisonment, or both, the maximum sentence a magistrate can impose on a person guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm or who forges or counterfeits any license or permit.
“This is not the first time in our law that the magistracy will have the authority to impose a sentence of up to 10 years,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who is also a lawyer who is also minister of national security and legal affairs, said in presenting the amendment to lawmakers for approval.
In presenting the facts to the court on Tuesday, the prosecutor, acting Corporal of Police 817 Stapleton, said that on Monday, around 9:15 a.m., Lewis observed that Francis began to act suspiciously when he appeared to have seen the officers.
The officers requested a search and Francis consented, during which they found in his crutch the revolver, which was loaded with six rounds of .38 ammunition.
“Officer, you done hold me already. Ah mines,” Francis said when cautioned.
He was taken to the central Police Station where a further search revealed three rounds of .38 ammunition in his back pocket.
A ballistic expert confirmed that the weapon was functional and the ammunition was live.
“Unfortunately for you, for this type of offence, it is straight jail — and taking into account what’s happening in the country now,” the senior magistrate told Francis.
Mc Kenzie was referring to the spate of shooting incidents in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which recorded its 51st homicide this year, including one on the night that Francis was nabbed with the weapon. There is no information suggesting a link between Francis and that homicide.
Mc Kenzie noted that not only was the weapon loaded but Francis also had “back up”, a reference to the three rounds that he had in his pocket.
The defendant told the court that a lot of stealing takes place on his farm, where he grows ginger.
Responding to the magistrate’s question, Francis said he had never applied for a firearms permit but knew how to use one from hunting.
“That does not look like a hunting weapon,” Mc Kenzie told Francis, who responded, “There are different types.”
Mc Kenzie had established a starting point of 55 months in prison or 65% of seven years.
She had deducted six months for his youth and previous good character and a further 16 months, as the one-third discount for his early guilty plea.
However, she added nine months to the sentence in light of the upsurge in violence in the country, taking the sentence to three and a half years.
Mc Kenzie also asked Francis if was able to pay a fine, adding that it was her intention to fine and confine him.
She said his ability to pay a fine would balance the time he would serve against the fine that he would pay immediately.
Francis told the court that he makes between EC$4,000 and EC$5,000 annually from his ginger harvest.
The magistrate was about to impose the sentence for the ammunition when the prosecutor asked whether she was using the maximum of 10 years.
At this point, Mc Kenzie said she would adjourn the matter to Friday and do the sentencing then.