Conflicting statements in firearm case detailed in court

A court has heard that a St Michael man gave conflicting accounts after police found an unlicensed firearm and ammunition in his bedroom.

The No. 5A Supreme Court heard that Shakeem Romario Clarke initially admitted that the gun was his but he later denied the offence.  

Clarke, now 31, of 1st Ave Deane’s Village, Hindsbury Road, pleaded guilty to having a Glock .40 calibre semi-automatic pistol and 12 rounds of ammunition without valid licences on July 19, 2022.   

Clarke is represented by Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens. State Counsel Eleazar Williams was the prosecutor. 

According to the evidence police executed a search warrant at the convicted man’s residence and in his presence, discovered the firearm in a clothes basket concealed under a haversack.  

When he was asked about it, the convicted man replied ‘Daz my gun’ and when asked about the rounds of ammunition stated ‘I find them in the gun’.  

Later, during his interview, Clarke stated: “I don’t know nothing about that firearm. That firearm is not mine…. I knows nothing about that firearm, bullets, nothing to do with the gun.”  

He then gave a written statement denying the offence.  

The firearm and ammunition were examined and defined as such by the police firearms examiner.  

Clarke returns to court on July 31 before Justice Christopher Birch for a sentencing hearing.
(JB)