Will ‘Cocoa’ David beat latest charge?

Colin ‘Cocoa’ David, who is charged with the illegal possession of a firearm, will return to court on Tuesday, September 19 to answer his charges.

His case was put off when he appeared at the Serious Offences Court last Monday.

David is charged that on May 5, 2017, at Kingstown, he had in his possession one Canik 9mm Semi-Automatic pistol serial number T6472- 16 Ap 19974 and on that same day and place he had 36 rounds of 9mm ammunition, both without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.

David is no stranger to court proceedings and over the years, he has managed to beat all charges laid against him.

The Long Wall man turned himself in to police on December 31, 2016, after the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (SVGPF) issued a release stating that David and Jomorni ‘Small Man’ Tash were wanted by police in connection with an alleged drive-by shooting in Murray Village the night before.

Both Tash and David turned themselves in to police that same day, accompanied by their lawyers Kay Bacchus-Browne and Michaela Ambrose respectively.

Tash was released after questioning, but David was charged with assaulting his child’s mother, a charge that didn’t stick after the mother told magistrate Bertie Pompey at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court that she did not wish to proceed with the matter.

The accusations by police came three months after David was released from police custody, after an attempted murder charge against him was dismissed.

David was sent before the High Court in 2015, charged with the attempted murder of Police Constable 843 Julanie Jack and for robbing Cleopatra Wilson, a postal corporation worker of EC$102,000 on June 13, 2013, while being armed with a gun.

David also beat a murder charge in 2012, when he was charged with shooting Ashley Seymour Warren, a fruit vendor from Long Wall in 2009.

Seven months after he was freed of Warren’s murder charge, David was charged with the murder of Jahjust Devon Steele, who was gunned down in Rose Place on May 5, 2013. David also shared this charge with Tash.

However, both men were cleared of the charge in 2015, when Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Colin Williams made the decision to discontinue the matter.