A 27-year-old Barrouallie man who said he had an unlicensed firearm to protect himself because “a lot ah vipers out there” has been jailed for three years.
Chief Magistrate Colin John handed down the sentence on Demran Bobb aka “German” and “Red Rat”, a farmer, on Tuesday at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown.
Bobb pleaded guilty on Sept. 10 at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court to charges that on Sept. 9, at Barrouallie, he had in his possession one firearm and eight rounds of 12 gauge ammunition without a license issued under the Firearms Act.
The charges were transferred to the Serious Offences Court for sentencing on Tuesday.
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that on Sept. 9, about 4:15 a.m., Corporal 778 Williams was amongst a party of officers from the Rapid Response and Narcotics units who executed a search warrant at Bobb’s home.
On arrival, Williams knocked while identifying the party as police officers, but got no response.
He opened the front door, which was not secured and entered the one-room dwelling.
The officer met Bobb lying on a bed and he appeared to be sleeping.
Williams touched the defendant, who responded, and identified himself along with a party of police officers and told him of their duties.
Bobb consented to the search of his room, during which Williams found ammunition on the bedding on which Bobb had been sleeping.
The officer pointed out the ammunition and the offence of possession of unlicensed ammunition and Bobb responded, “Officer me nah know way that be.”
Williams continued the search and lifted up the bed covering and found a firearm and five rounds of 12-gauge ammunition under it.
When cautioned, Bobb again said, “Officer, me nah know way that be”.
The officers continued the search and Williams found one round of 12 gauge ammunition in a pair of black jeans.
The officers arrested Bobb and as they were about to leave, the accused shouted at Williams, “Officer, careful with that; it loaded.”
Williams asked Bobb what was loaded and the defendant pointed to the firearm.
Williams made notes in his personal diary of what the defendant said, then asked the defendant to sign it, but he refused.
Williams and Sergeant 508 Huggins, who was heading the party, signed the note.
The officers took Bobb to the Rapid Response Unit base in Layou, where they conducted a function check on the weapon in his presence.
One round of 12-gauge ammunition was found in the chamber of the firearm.
The relevant checks showed that Bobb did not have a permit to keep a firearm or ammunition.
In court, Bobb, who did not have a lawyer, said that he accepted the facts as presented by the prosecution.
He also confirmed that he is also known as “German”, “because me father from Germany”.
Bobb asked the court to impose a fine and give him time to make money and pay it “instead of going to jail and waste time”.
He said he had found the gun in the bushes and had kept it to protect himself.
However, the prosecutor, Inspector of Police Renrick Cato, pointed out to court that the weapon was clean and did not appear to have been exposed to the elements.
“Maybe somebody dropped it and he picked it up the same time,” the chief magistrate responded, smiling.
“There is no evidence it was there for a year or six months,” John further said.
Bobb has previous convictions for possession of a controlled drug and escaping lawful custody
The chief magistrate told him that it was not in the interest of justice to order him to pay a fine.
“Firearms are becoming more prevalent,” John said, adding that this was also the case with firearm-related offences.
He noted the number of homicides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, adding that the firearm, a shotgun, can be very, very harmful.
“All of these things have to be taken into consideration. I understand your request but the appropriate sentence is a term of imprisonment,” John said.
The defendant said he has a child who was turning 7, adding that the child lives with his paternal grandmother.
The defendant further told the court that he had just organised to begin a job.
“You see how things does happen,” he said, adding that he had the firearm to protect himself, “because you know it have a lot ah vipers out there”.
However, the chief magistrate told Bobb that is not the way to do it.
Bobb said he did not have a business to use as a basis to apply for a firearm permit.
“If someone come to do you something, you cannot use a cutlass. You have to have gun fuh gun,” he said.
John jailed Bobb for one year on the ammunition charge and three years for the firearm charge. The sentences are to run concurrently.
He also ordered that the firearm and ammunition be confiscated.