Ottley Hall man pleads guilty to ammo possession

An Ottley Hall man has been jailed for two years, after being found with a bullet in his pocket on New Year’s Day.

Calvert Buntin’s arrest came two days after the state recorded 40 murders, in which more than 80 per cent of the homicides were gun-related.

When Buntin appeared before the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to having one round of .45 calibre ammunition in his possession.

Police say that on January 1, 2017, officers from the Special Patrol were on patrol in Ottley Hall, when they met Buntin at a shop.

According to their report, Buntin began acting suspiciously and so a search was requested, which uncovered one round of ammunition in his back pocket.

However, Buntin told the court that he was helping someone clean a house and found the bullet and put it in his pocket.

His explanation was not accepted by magistrate Bertie Pompey, who noted that Buntin has a criminal record, with a conviction as recent as 2014.

Pompey stated that he is also mindful of the number of gun-related deaths recorded last year, adding that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factor of the Ottley Hall resident’s guilty plea. (AS)