“Fat Head” jailed for firearm,ammo

Twenty-seven-year-old Everest “Fat Head” Bynoe of Richland Park has been imprisoned on firearm and ammunition charges.

Bynoe appeared before the No. 1 Kingstown Magisterial Court last Friday and pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a .25 firearm and possessing two rounds of .25 ammunition without licences. {{more}}He was sentenced to 12 months for the firearm and nine months for the ammunition. The sentences, however, are to run concurrently.

Bynoe was arrested at Mesopotamia by officers from the Narcotics Division who were on mobile patrol on October 31st, this year.

Bynoe’s lawyer, Ronald Marks, in presenting mitigating factors, said his client had pleaded guilty and had thrown himself at the mercy of the court. He said it was his client’s first firearm conviction and, although he had previous convictions for other offences, those offences were committed while he was a minor.

Marks further said that the .25 was not a high-powered firearm and was not dangerous in terms of its calibre. He also said that the offence was committed just about two days after Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves had announced his administration’s intention to intensify the police stop and search programme and to impose stiffer penalties for firearm offences. He contended that although the Prime Minister’s announcement came two days before, it was not sufficient time for wide-spread publicity.

Senior Magistrate Carl Joseph, in replying to Marks’ mitigating factors, highlighted the aggravating features of the firearm offence.

Senior Magistrate Joseph said that the Prime Minister had noted that more than 50 per cent of the murders committed for the year so far involved the use of firearms. He said that Parliament viewed firearm offences seriously and that was the reason it was moving to increase the penalty. He said Bynoe was fortunate because the new firearm legislation, which gives magistrates the power to impose prison sentence of seven years and fines of $20,000, had not yet been put in place. He said it would possibly be in place by the end of this month.