$10 000 fine for ammunition

High Court judge Christopher Birch delivered a reminder to a St George man, in the form of a $10 000 fine, that “possession of ammunition is highly illegal and is not to be tolerated” in Barbados.

Renison Anthony Greaves has six months to pay the fine for the three rounds of ammunition he had in his possession on August 13, 2009 without a licence.

If he fails to pay in the stipulated time, he will spend 34 months in jail at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds.

According to the facts presented in Supreme Court No. 5a by Crown Counsel Joyann Catwell, police went to the Greaves’ residence on the mentioned date to execute a search warrant. However, the man tried to dispose of the bullets by throwing them through a louvre.

When questioned by lawmen he said: “I had them in my bedroom and when I hear wunna out there I just try to get rid of them.”

On Wednesday, Crown Counsel Catwell submitted that even though the offence was simply possession of ammunition, “we must not underestimate or downplay the effects of ammunition”.

She added: “Ammunition cannot be used alone; it is used in guns, which have a devastating impact on our community. This ammunition could have been sold; it could be used in the drug trade. These activities have a devastating impact on our young persons. It is ammunition that can be used to further the commission of other serious crimes and I, therefore, entreat this court to impose a deterrent and punitive sentence so as to send a message to persons to keep away from illegal ammunition.”

Moments before being sentenced, the convicted man, who was represented by a legal team led by attorney-at-law Arthur Holder, apologized for his crime.

“I am sorry for my actions,” he said.

Justice Birch told Greaves that he could not impress on him enough the seriousness of the offence for which he had pleaded guilty.

“It is . . . the source of great pain for this society that we have lost so many persons to violence involving firearms,” the judge said.

Although he took into consideration that Greaves was much younger at the time of the incident, Justice Birch said that was still “no excuse”.

He said Greaves knew to dispose of the ammunition when police came to his house, which meant he was aware he was dealing with an illegal item.

“You have no excuse to have ammunition in your possession. You had no licence or permit to do so. It is not for the court to speculate as to why you had them in your possession but [there] is strong inference that you had them in your possession for an illegal purpose – either for illegal sale, illegal use or harbouring the item for someone else with hostile or dangerous intent,” Justice Birch said.

In deciding on punishment for Greaves, the judge took into consideration the mitigating and aggravating features of the offence and the offender, the fact that he has previous convictions, albeit not similar, and the time he had spent on remand.

He then imposed the fine, even as he made it clear that “it cannot be forgotten that the possession of ammunition is highly illegal and is not to be tolerated”.

The alternative for not paying the fine would be a starting sentence of seven years in prison, minus two years due to the delay in hearing the case, as well as the six months Greaves had spent on remand. A third discount would also be given for Greaves’ guilty plea, leaving him with a sentence of 34 months in prison if he does not pay the $10 000.