By Latrishka Thomas
A Liberta man has been fined a total of $30,000 for having in his possession a gun and ammunition without the requisite license.
On July 20, Mahaja Henry was observed by an officer on patrol in Gray’s Farm acting in a suspicious manner.
The officer approached him, told him that he suspected that he had illegal items on his person and requested to search him.
The defendant consented and within his camouflage waist bag the officer found a black firearm and a magazine with eight rounds of ammunition.
When asked, Henry admitted that he did not hold a firearm user’s licence.
He was therefore arrested and taken to the police station and charged.
Henry’s lawyer, Michael Archibald, told the court that his client found the gun while working.
Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh did not buy that story because, according to her, the firearm is “new brand” and “top of the line”.
Archibald then said that “if he wanted to do anything with it, he would have kept it in Liberta where he found it” but “it can be inferred he came to Gray’s Farm to make money off of it”.
The attorney then begged the court to impose a non-custodial sentence since his client is a first-time offender.
The magistrate fined the 23-year-old $10,000 for the bullets and $20,000 for the gun. He was told to pay all of the monies by January 31 or he could spend 18 months in prison.