New Montrose man charged with firearm possession

A resident of New Montrose was, up to press time, in police custody after he was found with an unlicensed firearm at his home earlier this week.{{more}}

Police say that on Tuesday, at about 5:40 a.m., a party of Rapid Response Unit (RRU) officers, headed by Station Sergeant Nolan Dallaway, found the 20 gauge Remington shotgun under a matress at the residence of Alvin Barbour, while they were executing a search warrant.

“Officers, I find it when I was cleaning up the yard,” police say Barbour claimed when the discovery was made.

When he appeared before the Serious Offences Court on Tuesday, Barbour revealed that the house in which the gun was found had been abandoned after the death of his grandmother.

Claiming to have been living in the United States of America until 2013, Barbour said the abandoned house is one of two he owns and he was repairing it when he found the gun under the floor, which had fallen in.

The rusted firearm did not contain ammunition when found by police.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias said the matter is a serious offence and she would have to assess the facts before sentencing.

Barbour was remanded in custody until his sentencing yesterday.(AS)