By Latrishka Thomas
A 22-year-old farmer must find a whopping $25,000 to pay a fine for the illegal possession of a gun and ammunition.
On December 18, plain clothes officers on duty in the city in an unmarked vehicle reported to North Street based on information they received.
When they got there, they found the defendant, Iyanta Thomas, and some other individuals sitting in an open lot.
The officers approached the defendant and asked to search his person. Upon doing so they found a Taurus Millennium G2 with nine rounds of 9mm ammunition in his groin area.
When asked who the weapon belonged to, Thomas said, “a no long talking a me you find um pan”.
He was then arrested and charged.
Thomas pleaded guilty to having the gun and bullets without the requisite licence yesterday upon which time his lawyer, Damien Benjamin, asked the Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh for leniency.
He told the court that his client has an eight-month-old son and another baby on the way.
But despite the lawyer’s plea, Thomas was fined $5,000 for the bullets and $20,000 for the firearm which he has to pay by April 14 or be sent to prison for 18 months.