‘Breadwinner’ gets three years for gun

Romano Durham, a 19-year-old labourer of Edinboro has placed his mother in an uncomfortable position. The soul breadwinner in his home, he was on Tuesday sent to prison for three years on a gun possession charge, leaving his mother to make ends meet, somehow.{{more}}

The lanky lad appeared before Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman and pleaded guilty to the charge. To add to his woes, Magistrate Churaman slapped on a further six months custodial sentence for having two rounds of ammunition in his possession.

The incident took place on August 25, 2007 at Ottley Hall at the nightspot “The Palace”. After Durham purchased the ticket to enter the club, police stopped him to carry out a routine search, during which they felt a hard object in his waist. The search turned up one .32 Ruby revolver and two rounds of ammunition. When cautioned by officers, Durham replied “Officer is ah man cut me on me hand, gimme ah chance please, ah find de gun.”

Giving his account of the incident, Durham told the Magistrate that he found the gun in an alley and was going to give it to the owner of the club, instead he bumped into a man who he didn’t know was a cop.

Pleading with Magistrate Churaman, Durham told the court the he is a hardworking man and that he is the main one who helps out his mother. “I am not in any gang and I only found the gun,” stated Durham.

Churaman took into account his guilty plea and that it was his first offence. She however stated that she must rule within the guidelines of the Court of Appeal. (KW)