‘Gun find’ lands youth in prison for 18 months

When Josiah Williams found a gun under some clothes at the beach, his first instinct was not to carry it to the police. Instead, he tried selling it to a man at Little Tokyo on May 31 this year.{{more}}

For this, Chief Magistrate Sonya Young sentenced Williams, 19, of Barrouallie, to 18 months imprisonment for possession of the firearm on Wednesday at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown.

Williams told the court that when he found the gun, he took it home and his friends told him that it was a flare gun. After hearing this, Williams went to Kingstown to sell the gun, but his plans were dashed by the police who arrested him on the spot.

It was also disclosed by a ballistic expert that the gun had been modified.

In handing down her sentence, Young reiterated the point that when the young man found the gun, he did not hand it over to the police. “I look at what is going on in this country as it relates to firearm and ammunition possession and it is the young people between ages 16-30 who are caught with these things,” Young said.

Young added that the most aggravating factor was that the gun had been modified. “You are lucky that no ammunition was found on you and you did not have it brandishing about the place,” she added.

Williams had already served four months on remand and his sentence will run from the time he was arrested. (KW)