Myers gets a year and half for gun possesion

An Ottley Hall man will spend the next year and a half within the confines of Her Majesty’s Prisons, after being found guilty of gun possession.{{more}}

Chief Magistrate Sonya Young, on Wednesday at the Serious Offences Court, found Simneli Myers, 27, guilty of possessing a revolver without a licence on January 14, 2009, at Ottley Hall.

Myers, who pleaded not guilty to the charge when the matter commenced on July 17, told the court that he was walking along the public road when the officers from the Narcotics Unit alighted their transport and found the gun on the ground a few feet away from him and accused him of being the owner of the gun.

Myers told the court that he was not a troublemaker and had no need to be walking around with a gun in his hand. The unrepresented man said he had on a long-sleeved T-shirt and it was impossible for the officers to see if he had anything in his hand on that day. Myers further told the court that when he was thrown into the back of the police transport, he was beaten with a flashlight that burst his head and struck with a gun on the back of his neck.

However, the police said they were traveling along the public road when they saw Myers, who apparently had recognized the lawmen, throw an object in the bushes nearby. The police officers also denied ever beating Myers.

Before handing down sentence, Magistrate Young said that she did not believe Myers’ story that he did was not carrying the gun that day. She stressed that there were aggravating factors in the trial, including the fact that Myers drew a weapon and that he was in a public place at the time of doing so. “ You could have pleaded guilty right from the start, but you decided to put me through the rigors of a trial,” Young said.(KW)