Man jailed for stealing bag with gun and ammo

A 33 year old man who told the police that “people made me do it”, after admitting to theft, unlawful possession of firearm, and ammunition, was handed a custodial sentence.

Jeffery Jordan of Mesopotamia appeared at the Serious Offences Court before Senior Magistrate, Colin John on Tuesday May, 22, 2024, where he pleaded guilty to three charges which were committed on May 18, 2024 at Arnos Vale.

Jordan was charged for stealing one grey knapsack valued at EC$150.00, containing one St Vincent and the Grenadines driver’s license valued at EC$300.00; one pair of house keys valued at EC$50.00; one SVG port ID card valued EC$70.00; one black JVC boom-box valued EC$100.00; and EC$42.00 in cash, the property of Rowe Simmons of Belmont. From the same knapsack, he also stole one black Glock 23 pistol, serial number LLC-852 valued EC$3,000.00; and nine rounds of .40 ammunition valued EC$9.00, the property of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force.

Jordan also was charged for being in possession of nine rounds of .40 ammunition without a license issued under the Firearms Act; and for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm, to wit ‘one black Glock 23 pistol, serial number LLC-852’ without a license issued under the Firearms Act.

The facts read that Simmons is the owner of one grey Nissan omnibus, registration number P-8753. At about 10:35 a.m on the date in question, Simmons parked his omnibus in the vicinity of Massy Stores, Arnos Vale and secured all the doors. He also secured the windows, but left one open for ventilation purposes.

Simmons then went into the supermarket leaving his grey knapsack which contained one Glock 23 pistol, serial number LLC-852 and nine rounds of .40 ammunition, the property of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force in his omnibus. About five minutes later, Simmons returned to his omnibus and discovered that the grey knapsack along with its contents were missing.

Simmons was later shown CCTV footage of Jordan entering his omnibus through the window that had been left open and exiting with the knapsack on his back. Simmons reported the matter to the police, and Police Constable 979 Jack entertained the report, visited the scene and carried out investigations into the matter.

Acting on information received, officers from the Rapid Response Unit officers met Jordan at Sayers, Marriaqua, where he took the firearm and ammunition from his waist and handed it over to the police. When Jordan was cautioned, he said “officer, I’m sorry, people made me do it”. Jordan was arrested under suspicion of the offences of possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Glock pistol and ammunition were handed over to PC Jack who kept it in his possession as exhibit. He identified himself to Jordan as a police officer dressed in plain clothes and informed him of the report that was made against him. The officer cautioned and interviewed Jordan in the presence of Justice of the Peace (JP) Roxian Williams.

Jordan volunteered a statement in writing admitting to the offence, and was shown the said CCTV footage where he identified himself as the person entering Simmons’ omnibus and exiting with the knapsack. Jordan was arrested that day and charged for the offences of unlicensed firearm and ammunition possession.

After the facts were read, Jordan told the Senior Magistrate that he was “very sorry” for committing the offences. He added that he did not know a gun was in the knapsack. Senior Magistrate John noted that Jordan has had 20 convictions, 13 of which were for acts of dishonesty; and his last offence, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison, was committed in 2019.

When the Senior Magistrate asked Jordan what he meant when he said, “…people made me do it”, Jordan responded, “People been ah tell me money must be in the bag”.

John then considered that the firearm was retrieved, Jordan’s cooperation with the police among other factors, and sentenced Jordan to three years in prison for being in possession of a firearm, 18 months in prison for being in possession of ammunition, and one year in prison for theft. All sentences will run concurrently. Jordan will therefore spend three years behind bars.