Bullet possession attracts stiff fine

A starting penalty of $20,000 was imposed on a man who was found in possession of 105 rounds of ammunition over nine years ago.

However, after taking into consideration, the mitigating and aggravating factors, the 268 days he had already spent on remand and his guilty plea, Jermaine Yohan Sebastian Adams will only pay the High Court $12 000 dollars for the crime. The money must be paid by June 30, 2021 or the 35-year-old resident of Whopping, Orange Hill, St James will spend three years in prison.

“This substantial fine should send a strong message that offences of this nature will be dealt with severely, with the imposition of large fines or, in the appropriate cases, even imprisonment,” Madam Justice Pamela Beckles said as she handed down the sentence on Adams this morning in the No. 2 Supreme Court ruling.

The judge explained that though the court believed that ammunition possession is a serious offence, it took into consideration all the circumstances and found that “the threshold for a custodial sentence is unwarranted”.

“The court is satisfied that the imposition of a fine will do justice to this case.” the judge added.

The convict already had seven offences on his record including, theft, possession of cannabis, possession of an offensive weapon, assault and for causing a disturbance. He was deemed at a medium risk of re-offending.

On August 28, 2011 lawmen were on mobile patrol in the City when they observed Adams riding a bicycle in their direction. On seeing the police however, he sped up and at one point got off and ran away holding his pocket.

He was caught and a search revealed five bullets contained in a bag and another 100 in a container.

When asked to account for the ammunition, Adams told police the bullets were his. He said he had found them and his intent was to sell them, Crown Counsel Danielle Mottley disclosed after Adams pleaded guilty to the offence.