Sutton gets two years for possession of gun, ammo

The demons of Dave Sutton’s past came back to haunt him and he ended up paying a price of freedom for them.

Sutton, 35, a farmer of New Chapmans, was sentenced to two years imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession of one Remington shotgun at the Georgetown Mountains on March 19, 2010. He was also slapped with a one-year custodial sentence for possessing four rounds of 12 shotgun cartridges.{{more}} Sutton also received a further three-month sentence for possession of 373 grams of cannabis. The sentences will run concurrently.

The court heard that at about 8:30am, police officers from the Rapid Response Unit were on patrol in the area when Sutton was spotted walking towards them with the shotgun over his shoulder.

He was told to put down the weapon, which he did. When cautioned, Sutton replied: “Ah my gun, all ah dem ah mine”.

A search conducted on Sutton’s knapsack revealed the controlled marijuana substance. He also admitted to ownership of the drug.

In a plea of mitigation by Ronald Marks, he noted that although his client had a string of previous convictions of a similar nature, he was trying his best to turn his life around. Marks also mentioned that Sutton even handed over a firearm to the police and led them to where ammunition was hidden.

Marks also brought it to the court’s attention that his client was the sole breadwinner for his three children, ages 3 to 10. The defence lawyer added that Sutton felt it “necessary to arm himself with a shotgun for the most primitive reasons, and that is to protect his life because of threats he was receiving from persons he used to associate with.”

Responding to Marks, Chief Magistrate Sonya Young said that Sutton was not thinking about his children when he had the firearm slinging over his shoulder. “My God! Look at what he armed himself with. I must give him a custodial sentence,” Young stated. (KW)