Teen mom guilty of possessing gun and ammunition

Even though her age and having a young child were mitigating factors, they were not enough to save 17-year-old Solandra Horne of Fair Hall from being sentenced to two years in prison.{{more}}

On Monday, Horne was found guilty at the Serious Offences Court of having in her possession without a licence one 9mm pistol serial number V12523 and one round of 9mm ammunition on 20th June this year at her home.

According to reports, on the evening of June 20, Horne was shot in the left thigh during an altercation with her boyfriend. She reported the matter to the police and told them that her boyfriend shot her.

However, when the police took Horne to the hospital for the medical form, she gave another statement admitting that the gun belonged to her and she got shot during an altercation with her boyfriend when he tried to wrestle it away from her.

She told police then that she had found the gun in Mesopotamia and took it home and hid it in the yard. After being shot, she told the police where she hid the gun and the police were able to retrieve the gun from the exact location that she gave to them.

In her defence, Horne told the court that she went to the police station to give a statement, but the officers kept her on the bench for about five hours. She said after she told them that she had a young child to take care of, they took her upstairs for questioning.

According to Horne, when she realized that they are not allowing her to leave, she decided to tell the police that the gun belonged to her because she thought that they would have allowed her to leave.

She was sentenced to two years in prison for the firearm and four months for the ammunition. She was represented by Arthur Williams.(SB)