Duo sentenced to time served for gun, ammo, drug offences

Two men who pleaded guilty to a 14-court indictment related to firearms, ammunition and drugs were sentenced to time served for the March 20, 2018 matter.

Grantley Dolar Babb, 66, of Lower Burney, St Michael and Stacey Terrence Richards, 46, of Kingsland, Christ Church, had pleaded guilty to having 23 rounds of 9mm ammunition, three .40 semi-automatic pistols, one .45 semi-automatic pistol and 9mm pistol in their possession on the date. They also had 232.4 kilogrammes of cannabis and 6.5 kilogrammes of cocaine; both traffickable amounts.

The two also pleaded guilty to importation of the ammunition, the five firearms, the cannabis and cocaine.

Delivering the ruling in the Supreme Court No. 5A recently, Justice Christopher Birch said: “You know you are not to have these things. The court must take a dim view of those who would prey on the weakness of those in society who suffer from drug addiction in order to make a profit. It is beyond dispute the pain and suffering that guns inflict on the society – death, injury, and loss of liberty. It must be reemphasised that guns have but one purpose, and that is to inflict death. Even if you gentlemen never pulled a trigger or never intended to do so, even if your only intention was to sell those firearms, they represent a clear and present danger to the peace, order and good governance of the state.”

He gave Babb and Richards a starting sentence of 12 and 11 years, respectively, before making several deductions.

Noting that both men have already been before the courts, he stated that should have acted as a deterrent and considered this to be an aggravating factor, along with the quantity of firearms and narcotics they were found with. Mitigating factors were their early admission of guilt and, in the case of Richards, his low risk of re-offending.

Justice Birch then gave a one-third discount for the guilty plea and deducted 18 months for the delay in the matter being brought to trial and the five years spent on remand.

“You are both sentenced to the time that you have spent on remand. The same time is also imposed in relation to the trafficking of the narcotics, to run concurrently,” he said, before sentencing them to two years for the possession of ammunition and importation of the firearms and narcotics.

They were convicted, reprimanded and discharged for possession of the drugs.

“Gentlemen, it is the desire of the court that you never come back around this or any other court. Truly, enough is enough. Today is the first day of the rest of your law-abiding lives. Live accordingly,” Birch warned.

Richards and Babb were represented by attorney-at-law Ajamu Boardi and Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim respectively, while Senior State Counsel Romario Straker prosecuted.