Ex-con busted on gun charges

Even though he has been granted bail, Devon Ashton is back in a familiar place – Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

When he appeared in court on September 4, senior prosecutor Adolphus Delpesche did not object to Ashton’s bail, but no one was present to sign it.

The Barrouallie man will reappear in court on Wednesday, September 20, when he is expected to be tried for being in possession of a .38 revolver with one round of .38 ammunition without a licence.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias granted Ashton bail in the sum of EC$12,000, with one surety. He is expected to surrender his travel documents, adhere to a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and report to the Barrouallie Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Stop notices have also been placed at the nation’s borders.

Ashton, 28, originally from New Montrose, is alleged to have been in possession of the illegal firearm on August 21, 2017 at Chauncey. He was at the time riding in a vehicle with Kimron Thomas, 25, of McKies Hill and is accused of throwing the gun from the vehicle.

Thomas made headlines recently when it was reported that a nine millimetre luger semi-automatic gun, with six rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition, dropped from his waist at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Thomas has since been jailed for five years.

Back in 2008, Ashton was in a similar position when he and Darsil Charles of Pembroke were arrested and charged with being in possession of one .25 automatic pistol and nine rounds of .25 ammunition in Kingstown on August 8, 2008. He pleaded guilty and also pleaded guilty to driving without the proper licence and without a driver’s permit. He was sentenced to two and a half years.

In 2015, Ashton was again sentenced to three years in prison for gun and ammunition possession. On April 9, 2013, police officers were on mobile patrol at Lower Middle Street when a large crowd was seen gathered outside a shop. Ashton, who was in that crowd, ran into the shop and was chased by a police officer, who said Ashton dropped a gun. The gun was retrieved and Ashton was taken into custody.

Ashton has done prison time for other charges, including marijuana and cocaine possession, while in 2012, he appeared at the Serious Offences Court, charged with the murder of Okeef ‘Spenx’ Lynch. Lynch’s body was found at Murray’s Road on August 8, 2008, with a single gunshot wound to his head. This case was later dismissed.