Lawyers make sentence submissions in case against gunman

An attorney with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has submitted that a man found with a loaded weapon in a public place should be sentenced to jail.

Crown Counsel Kevin Forde made the submission in connection with the gun and ammunition case against Dymond Ramone Nurse.

The Cumberbatch Road, Fairfield, St Michael resident had pleaded guilty before Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith Bovell in the No. 4 Supreme Court to possession of a .38 revolver and four rounds of ammunition. The illegal weapon and bullets were discovered on October 30, 2020 while Nurse was at the bar located in St John “where people were socializing” Forde stated.

The prosecutor argued that the convict’s “intention” could be “inferred” given that he had the weapon at a public establishment.

He further submitted that ten years in prison was an appropriate starting point as “deterrent and punitive sentences are needed and should be imposed” in such matters.

Forde said in Nurse’s case there were no mitigating factors. However, the aggravating features are that he was in possession of “powerful handgun” in public and it could be inferred that “he intended to use it”.

He added, “He was not found with a plate or a cup . . . . he was found with a loaded gun.”

A ten-year sentence on each count to run concurrently, Forde said, would suffice given the seriousness of the offence.

“In my view [it] would . . . maintain public confidence in the judicial system,” said the prosecutor who added that Nurse should be given credit for the time he had spent on remand and for his guilty plea.

However the convicted man’s attorney Angella Mitchell-Gittens urged the court to consider imposing a fine on her client.

She argued before Justice Smith-Bovell that there was no indication that gun was used or had been used.

The defence attorney said the 28-year-old was a young man who had made a mistake.

“He did foolishness that can’t be glossed over . . . but he can turn his life around and make a meaningful contribution to society,” Mitchell-Gittens said in her sentencing submissions. She also revealed that Nurse could get back the job that he previously had before being charged as his employers were willing to get him back to work notwithstanding the fact that he had been convicted of a serious offence.

She again urged the High Court judge to impose a fine in the case adding that Nurse’s family was also willing to assist him in paying a financial penalty.

The convicted man will be sentenced on July 2.