Loaded ‘nuts’

A pipe gun found in the seat of his pants was there “because these men won’t stop coming round me”, a St James man told police when he was apprehended eight months ago.

In the No. 2 Supreme Court today Jahzeel Akeem Ward, of No. 22 Apes Hill, Orange Hill, pleaded guilty to having the illegal weapon in his possession on January 26 while at Endeavour Main Road in his community.

Crown Counsel Randolph Burnett gave the details of the offence before Justice Randall Worrell this morning.

He revealed that lawmen saw the now convicted man just after midnight among a group of men. When he looked in their direction he hurriedly walked off, causing the police to become suspicious. He was quickly detained.

“F***! F***! F***! Jesus Christ. S**t! S**t! S**t! I got this because these men won’t stop come around me,” Ward said when he was apprehended.

Under questioning he told police: “I start to walk away when I saw the police [because] a gun was in my [testicles].”

He also revealed that the got the firearm from another man from his area “from Wednesday just gone.”

The weapon was examined by an expert and defined as a firearm under the laws of Barbados.

Burnett said a check was made of the records but Ward’s name was not on the list of persons issued with a licence to carry a firearm.

The now convicted man and his attorney-at-law Arthur Holder accepted the facts.

The defence attorney also requested pre-sentencing and psychological reports on his client.

Holder said he was asking for the report as a previous evaluation done in 2016 at the Psychiatric Hospital “noted certain deficiencies. His cognitive system was that of an eight-year-old. So I am requesting a psychological report to assess where he is at”.

Ward returns to court on November 15.