Three youths jailed for guns, ammunition

Buddy Gutter residents Mike and Michael Prescod (twins), 24, and Sherwin Phillips, 18, will spend the next six years in jail, after being convicted on multiple gun and ammunition charges.{{more}}

On the charges of being in possession of two firearms, each of the men was sentenced to six years in prison, on Friday, February 6, at the Serious Offences Court.

For the charge of possession of five rounds of 12 gauge ammunition, they were each sentenced to a year in jail.

Mike, who was charged separately for possession of a firearm and two rounds of 12-gauge ammunition on the same date, was sentenced to six years and a further six months on the ammunition charges.

The men’s sentences will, however, run concurrently.

During the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses in the matter, including Sergeant Duane Bailey.

In his testimony, Sergeant Bailey told the court that acting on information, he and his team of Rapid Response Unit (RRU) officers went to the home of the defendants at about 5:40 a.m., on January 30, 2015.

Bailey said on arrival, they knocked on the door and after waiting for about two minutes for a reply, they broke open the door.

After doing so, Bailey said he saw Mike run towards the kitchen area with what appeared to be a firearm.

One of the firearms was made of pipe material, ,while the others found were manufactured and modified.

In giving testimony, Mike Prescod told the court that they intended to hand over the firearms to the police.

He further stated that they found one of the firearms and brought it home.

Senior prosecutor Adolphus Delpesche, during cross-examination, asked Prescod why they did not call the police to retrieve the gun they found.

However, Prescod maintained that they were going to hand them over to the police.

The RRU officers also found three camouflage suits, three masks and three pairs of gloves at the house.

In a plea of mitigation, counsel for the men Roderick Jones said while the firearms were found in the house, the prosecution did not establish that the men used the firearms, nor could they establish if there was intention to use them.

He further added that his clients have had problems in the past and were trying to change their lives.

Jones stated that the men got baptized and became part of a church.

He noted that the twins are men filled with ambition and had recently built a house for themselves, but it was destroyed by fire since they were arrested.

“This was obviously a very bad error in judgement on their part. Even though my clients have antecedence, they are not of a similar nature,” Jones stated.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias handed down the sentences.

Senior prosecutor in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Adolphus Delpesche led the case for the crown. (KW)