Accused claims that different guns were presented in court

Randy Shallow, a man facing multiple firearm and ammunition charges, claimed on Tuesday that the guns he was shown during a police raid at his home are not the same ones being presented in court.

Shallow and his girlfriend, Friekesha Douglas, are jointly charged that on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, during a raid at their home in Lowmans Leeward, police found a submachine gun (SMG), a Glock 40 pistol, a .38 revolver, an AK47 magazine with one round of AK47 ammunition, 14 rounds of Glock 40 ammunition and 45 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.

When Shallow took the witness stand at the Serious Offences Court on Tuesday, he remained adamant that the SMG and the Glock 40 pistol presented as evidence were not the guns he was shown while being questioned at his home and at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) later that day.

“That is definitely not what I was shown in the interview,” he asserted, when the guns were shown in court.

Shallow told the court that the SMG and the Glock 40 pistol were not found in his presence.

He further stated that the .38 revolver, 14 rounds of Glock 40 ammunition and 45 rounds of 9 mm were not shown to him until he arrived at the Central Police Station.

Shallow also denied that any of the wepons and ammuniton for which he is being charged, belonged to him or his girlfriend.

According to him, on the morning of January 18, he was in bed with his girlfriend when he heard a banging on their door.

He said that he woke his girlfriend and when he got dressed, he opened the door and was met by police officers who claimed they had a warrant to search the premises.

However, Shallow said that when he asked to see the warrant, he was beaten by the police officers, who then handcuffed and shackled him, although he did not put up any resistance.

Shallow told the court that he was taken to his room and placed on a bed with his girlfriend, when PC 209 Philbert Chambers entered the room with a small gun saying: “Watch here, whose this here?”.

He claimed that a few minutes later another officer entered the room with a bigger gun, saying the same thing.

Shallow alleged that while in the bedroom Sergeant Jules Morgan, the officer who headed the search squad, instructed his officers to kill him.

He claimed Morgan said, “Kill him, is he kill f***ing Raca”.

In 2004, Shallow was charged, along with two others, in relation to the murder of 41-year-old policeman Elson ‘Raca’ Richardson. However, while his co-accused are serving custodial sentences, the charges were withdrawn against the Lowmans resident.

Shallow said that while he was being taken from the bedroom to the living room, he observed PC 209 Philbert Chambers and a female police officer beating his girlfriend.

He added that while in the living room, an officer held him at gunpoint, after being instructed to do so by another officer.

During cross examination by senior prosecutor Adolphus Delpesche, Shallow explained that it was impossible for the officers to find the guns at the window from which they claimed the weapons were retrieved.

He told the court that neither he nor his girlfriend opens that window, since it opens to a storage room that has a lot of dust and fungus.

The court heard that he never even drew the curtains at that window.

Meanwhile, Douglas gave testimony similar to that of her boyfriend. She maintained that the guns were not found in their presence and she does not know to whom they belong.

While adding to Shallow’s testimony, Douglas said that PC Chambers and a female officer beat her.

She recalled that on the morning in question, she was in a bedroom and officers took her to another bedroom where Shallow was.

Douglas said after the guns were discovered, she was asked to leave the room; however, she refused and said she would not leave.

She said that following her refusal, she was slapped by the female police officer, held by her throat and forcefully removed from the bedroom.

The Lowmans woman added that while outside the bedroom, she observed two police officers with ‘long’ guns, one being held to Shallow’s head and other with a ‘short’ gun holding it directly to his temple.

Douglas told the court that while being forced into a bedroom, PC Chambers stomped her in her back and in her side and when she told him that she was pregnant, he responded that he didn’t care.

During cross-examination, Douglas told the prosecution that the window where the police said they found the guns had never been opened since they moved into the house about four years ago.

She said that she believes the lashes she received from the police caused her to lose her baby.

However, Douglas noted that she doesn’t have any medical certificate to prove that she had a miscarriage, or was pregnant. She, however, indicated that she had taken a test that showed a positive sign of pregnancy.

The case has been adjourned to May 10. Counsel for the defence Grant Connell has requested the station diaries, exhibits and armory registry from the day his clients were arrested.

Connell told SEARCHLIGHT that the authors of the entries in the various diaries will be required to come to court to verify the documents.