Chandler gets 18 months in prison

All Peter Chandler could do after he heard that he was going to prison for 18 months was place his head in his hands.

Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman sentenced the Paul’s Avenue resident on Tuesday at the Serious offences Court after finding him guilty of having 12 rounds of .38 ammunition in his possession on July 14, 2006 at Golden Vale.{{more}}

Police Constable 93 Bailey told the Court that members of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) went to the home of Chandler’s girlfriend, Nicole Richards, to execute a search warrant.

Officer Bailey said he stood outside watching the defendant through a window while other members knocked on the door. He said the defendant’s girlfriend answered the door and he saw Chandler take something from the chair and place it under a mattress, which he was lying on in the living room area.

Bailey told the magistrate that he asked Chandler to get up from the mattress which he searched. He found a small plastic bottle containing 12 rounds of .38 ammunition under a pillow.

Chandler then became highly annoyed and used his head to knock out a windowpane. He was cautioned and made no reply. Chandler then said “I know what I will do.” Bailey recounted that after he said that, the defendant then started shouting “Oh gawd, the police killing me wid licks.”

Chandler, relating his side of the story, recalled hearing a knocking on the door in the wee hours of the morning. He said his girlfriend went to answer and he did not move. He said Officer Bailey told him to stand and he was placed in handcuffs and placed in a chair to sit. He said he retaliated after being slapped by one of the officers and then beaten. The defendant claimed that he sometimes sleeps at Nicole Richard’s home and that the ammunition did not belong to him.

His defense attorney, Samantha Robertson, argued that her client did not own the premises and that the search warrant was intended for the search of Nicole Richards’ home.