A young man who was held by police with an unloaded modified flare gun today apologized to the court and insisted he had learned his lesson during his time on remand in prison.
Shaquille Ricarla Calderon made the submissions when he reappeared before Justice Randall Worrell in the No. 2 Supreme Court this morning.
Calderon of Thorne’s Gap, Lands End, St Michael, had earlier pleaded guilty to having a firearm in his possession without a valid licence on December 20, 2018.
He begged the court to show him leniency and to allow him an opportunity to make amends.
“First I would like to apologize to the court and to my family and society and that this time I have been in jail I really learn a good lesson from it and I would love to get back outside to go home and get a second chance and start over. I would never be in this predicament again and I would continue my working ways if given the chance to get back outside,” Calderon said.
In making his sentencing submission, his attorney-at-law Harry Husbands asked the court to consider a starting sentence of six years.
Husbands said while his client had been found with a firearm in public it did not contain any ammunition.
He further contended that although the firearm had been modified to discharge bullets it was “not the most serious weapon.”
Husbands said there was also no evidence that the firearm had ever been discharged.
Additionally, he pointed out that at the time of the offence Calderon was not known to the court.
Husbands said his client had been on remand at HMP Dodds for two years, had not wasted the court’s time and pleaded guilty and had shown remorse for his actions.
As a result, he said the six-year sentence should be reduced by a further two years.
Husbands also suggested that the imposition of a fine was also a possibility as persons in other courts had been fined for being in possession of illegal firearms containing ammunition.
Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis, who is appearing on behalf of the Crown will deliver her sentencing submissions on Monday.
