Judge says delay in gun cases must end to deter firearm users

Firearm offences must be prosecuted in Barbados’ courts more speedily in order for sentences to have the intended deterrent effect.

Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell made that point on Friday as she fined Davey Reynold Prescod, of No. 1 Whitehall, St Michael, for having a .40 calibre pistol and eight rounds of ammunition without a licence on December 10, 2008.

The judge pointed out that Prescod’s case only reached the High Court in 2020.

“The court must state clearly that the delay in having this matter prosecuted moved the court from the position of a custodial sentence, in light of his previous conviction for ammunition, to a fine,” she stated.

Smith-Bovell gave Prescod a starting fine of $30 000 for the unlicensed gun but reduced that to $15 000, and also imposed a fine of $2 500 for the ammunition.

“The delay in prosecuting this matter credited the now-convicted man with a substantial reduction of the fine,” the judge said.

“Given the scourge of firearm offences, they must be prosecuted more speedily so that sentencing imposed by the court can have the deterrent effect that is intended.”

Of the $15 000, Prescod had to pay $8 500 forthwith and the balance must be settled in six months or he faces the alternative of two years and 167 days in prison. For the ammunition, he has four months to pay $2 500 or spend the same amount of time in jail. The prison sentence is derived from an eight-year starting sentence.

The judge stated: “The prevalence and ease with which members of the society have access [to] use a firearm remains a grave concern to all right-thinking members of society . . . .

“The reckless and wanton use of firearms continues to have a devastating effect on society, causing a number of deaths and serious injuries to citizens – those involved in the warfare as well as innocent bystanders. There is a clear and public need to protect society from misguided, callous [persons] who disregard the sanctity of life and human persona, and there is an equally compelling way to use sentences with a view to general and specific deterrence.”

According to the facts of the case, police acting on a tip-off went on duty to Whitehall Main Road around 6 a.m. on December 10, 2008, where they observed Prescod driving a vehicle. Lawmen turned on the siren, signalling for him to stop, but he drove off at a fast pace.

He was pursued and the vehicle swerved and collided with a curb at 1st Avenue Johnson Land, Green Hill, St Michael, came to a stop, and Prescod fled. As officers chased him, they saw him throw a gun he was holding in his right hand over a paling and run into a bushy area. The area was surrounded and after about ten minutes, Prescod emerged from the bushes and surrendered. He was taken back to the area where he was seen throwing the gun and the weapon was retrieved from the top of a chicken pen.

“That is de gun. I just didn’t want to get hold. That is the same gun that I take away from [called name]”. The ammunition was found in the magazine,” he told police.

When asked about the weapon while at the police station, he stated that a man “went to shoot me and I take it way . . . and I just keep it”.

Justice Smith-Bovell stated that the way Prescod got the firearm was “exactly why we don’t have a right to bear arms” in Barbados.

She noted that a significant aggravating factor was Prescod’s “deliberate and premeditated” decision to retain the firearm after taking it from another person, “knowing full well he had no licence to have a firearm and especially in light of the fact that he has a previous conviction for ammunition”.

fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb