St Peter man gets fine for illegal firearm and ammunition 

A St Peter man who bought an illegal gun and ammunition he said for his protection was handed a stiff fine.

The man, Dillon Kaddeam Griffith from Gays, has up to 12 months to accumulate $30,000 to pay the fine imposed by a High Court judge.
Griffith had pleaded guilty before Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell to having possession of a .25 semi-automatic pistol and four rounds of ammunition on September 14, 2016. He did not have the necessary licence for the firearm or the ammunition.

The No.5 Supreme Court heard from Crown Counsel Kevin Forde who said that police, acting on information received, went to a service station at Bentham, St Lucy.

On arrival they saw Griffith, then a conductor, refuelling a route taxi. They detained him in connection with a report of an assault with a firearm. During a search, the gun loaded with three rounds of ammunition in the magazine was discovered along with another bullet in his pocket.

When asked to give an account about the weapon in his possession he responded: “Man give me a break.”

During investigations, he further revealed he had bought the illegal firearm for his protection and claimed that he had previously been attacked by some men in Speightstown.

In handing down the sentence Justice Smith-Bovell told Griffith, who is deemed as having a medium to high risk of reoffending, that while the court had formed the view that he admitted to serious offences, a custodial sentence was not justified in this case.

A mitigating factor was that there was no evidence that the firearm had been used. But the judge said: “By having it with him, on his person, there is a clear inference to be drawn of intention to use the weapon.”

The judge said that Griffith, who was represented by attorney-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens, had set out to buy this “very dangerous weapon”.

She added: “This was not a case of the weapon being found. This suggests to the court a clear intention to use the weapon.

Vigilante justice is not to be condoned. The firearm was being carried by him in public, placing the lives of those travelling on [the route taxi] in danger.”

With respect to Griffith as an offender, the judge said other mitigating factors were that he had no previous convictions, had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, had expressed genuine remorse for the offence and had cooperated with the police.

Taking into consideration all the aggravating and mitigating factors, Justice Smith-Bovell imposed the fine on Griffith, “to act as a deterrent for him and other members of the public”.

He was given credit for the 144 days he had spent on remand at HMP Dodds and a one-third discount for his guilty plea.

For possession of the illegal firearm, the convicted man has to pay the court $25,000 in 12 months or spend the alternative of three years, 221 days in prison. For having the rounds of ammunition he must pay $5,000 in four months’ time or be jailed for three years and 221 days.