Twenty year old found with gun during Junior Carnival sent to prison

A youth from Mesopotamia who showed an “absolute lack of remorse” for having in his possession, a gun at Kingstown during the staging of Junior Carnival was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

Jesse Ashton, 20, was sentenced to three years and six months jail time when he appeared at the Serious Offences Court on July 3, before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne.

He was charged that on Saturday, July 1, in Kingstown, he had in his possession a .32 revolver, make and serial number unknown without a license issued under the Firearms Act.

The facts are that on Saturday, July 1 at about 4:55 p.m, PC 1033 Nigel Hadaway and PC 1114 Jamarie Roberts were on duty in Kingstown where the Junior Carnival was taking place.

The officers made a foot patrol in the area of Heritage square at the corner of the First National Bank.

Hadaway observed a group of young men standing on the side walk with what appeared to be cannabis in a transparent plastic bag.

He and Roberts approached the group and requested a search. However, as Hadaway was about to initiate the search, the defendant, who was standing close to him, attempted to run.

Roberts quickly grabbed onto him and they both fell. Hadaway went to the assistance of Roberts and held on to the defendant, helping him to his feet.

The defendant was carrying a black Nike cross bag, and when Hadaway held onto it, the bag felt heavy, so he opened it in front of the defendant and Roberts and saw a black revolver.

Hadaway immediately cautioned the defendant who said “Officer I find that up Subway, but you find it on me, so I go do the time for it.” Ashton was arrested and charged.

Prosecutor, Station Sergeant of Police Renrick Cato told the court that based on the facts and circumstances, a custodial sentence may be fitting for the defendant.

“This firearm was found on the defendant in a public place … it is well known to be a very public place … where you would find the little ones on the streets of Kingstown. On that day the defendant chose to bring that firearm,” the prosecutor said.

“And to give such an explanation that he found it at Subway. Subway is a three minute walk from the police station … he’s living in Mespo, he didn’t think to take it to the Central Police Station, he didn’t think to take it to the Mesopotamia Police Station. In fact, he kept it in his possession for over two days,” Cato continued.

In considering the sentence, the magistrate referred to the guidelines and found that based on the consequences of the offence, it fell into category two.

The seriousness of the offence placed it at Level A.

She started at a custodial sentence of fours years and seven months. The weapon being carried in a public place, particularly on the day of Junior Carnival with lots of children and parents around; Ashton’s attempt to evade police custody resulting in an officer falling; the prevalence of offence of this type in St Vincent and the Grenadines; and his decision to have the firearm in his possession rather than turning it in to the police were all found to be aggravating factors.

“Everyday we’re hearing something about firearms,” the Chief magistrate said.

There were no mitigating factors for this offence and when weighed against each other, the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating factors, so the sentence was adjusted upward by 10 months.

Aggravating factors were also considered for him as an offender, and the court found that there was an “absolute lack of remorse” for committing this offence.

Mitigating factors were that he had no previous convictions and that he was relatively young. The magistrate found that when the mitigating and aggravating factors were weighed they balanced out so nothing more was added or deducted from the sentence.

The magistrate then considered that Ashton had pled guilty plea and he was granted a one-third deduction, amounting to one year and six months. This brought the final custodial sentence to 3 years and 6 months. The firearm was confiscated.