St Lucian man to learn fate today

A national of St Lucia is expected to be sentenced at the Serious Offences Court today after he pleaded guilty last Tuesday to having guns and ammunition in his possession without a licence.{{more}}

Ricky Philgence, 32, first appeared before the court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to having 26 rounds of 9mm ammunition without a licence and an unlicensed Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol, serial number TA8981, contrary to section 4(3) of the Firearms Act, chapter 386 of the Revised Edition of the Laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2009.

According to police, on March 13, Rapid Response Unit (RRU) officers, headed by Station Sergeant Dallaway, went to the home of Dwight Bibby at Fountain, armed with a search warrant. During a search of the premises, PC 382 Willis Pope, who was among the party of RRU officers, found a black sock in the kitchen area that contained 17 rounds of live ammunition, of which Philgence denied knowledge.

Following this, PC Caesar, who also part of the raid, found a black and silver firearm among some clothing, along with a magazine that contained nine rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Ballistic expert Sergeant Caine found the firearm and ammunition to be functional.

Philgence’s lawyer, Matthias Stewart, during mitigation stated that his client got caught up in some unfortunate circumstances after he entered the country through the legal channels and asked the court to be lenient on his client, who he said is a father.

“It’s more than unfortunate that he found himself in a pickle, having entered the state legally,” said chief magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias.

Before she could continue, lawyer Ronnie Marks rose and advised Browne-Matthias on what he described as “win-win situation,” in which Philgence could be fined, along with a custodial sentence, in order to shorten the length on his prison sentence.

The chief magistrate will give her decision in relation to sentencing today.(AS)