By Jada Chambers
Chief Magistrate Colin John fined an Ottley Hall youth $3,000 on Tuesday after reprimanding him as a “big man,” who should have known better than to illegally take home four bullets that he claimed to have “found down the road.”
Orlando Jr McDonald, 20, appeared at the Serious Offences Court where he pleaded guilty to possessing four rounds of .45 ammunition in Ottley Hall without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.
The court heard that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) intercepted a Toyota Vitz near Randy’s Supermarket, at Lower Bay Street, at about 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 15. The interception followed reports that masked men were inside the vehicle.
Officers searched McDonald, the driver and the vehicle. After finding nothing, police took the men to the station.
PC 105 Castello, alongside a party of officers from CID and the Rapid Response Unit, executed search warrants at their premises.
While the driver’s home yielded nothing, Castello searched McDonald’s bedroom and found a small wooden box containing four rounds of .45 ammunition on top of a dressing table.
When cautioned, McDonald told the officer, “Officer, I find dem down the road sometime last week.”
Police took McDonald to CID headquarters, where he volunteered a written statement in the presence of a Justice of the Peace.
Testing confirmed that the four live rounds were in good working condition, and ballistic records showed McDonald is not a licenced firearm holder or dealer.
Lawyer Sean Marshall, representing McDonald as a friend of the court, said the young man is a good candidate for rehabilitation.
Marshall added that McDonald felt genuine remorse for taking the ammunition home instead of delivering it to a police station. In reprimanding him, John told McDonald that he is “a big man” and if he finds bullets, he cannot carry them home. Agreeing with Prosecutor Shamrack Pierre that a non-custodial sentence was appropriate, John fined McDonald $3,000 to be paid in three months, or face six months in prison.