Man jailed for four and a half years for Smith & Wesson gun

Thirty-year-old Kimani ‘Gambeeno’ Joe may have fled from the police the night he was caught with a Smith and Wesson revolver, but he could not run from a prison sentence of four and a half years.

Joe was arrested on September 17 and charged with the possession of an illegal firearm and six rounds of .38 ammunition without a licence, but his criminal trial only finished last Thursday.

Various police officers and ‘Gambeeno’ himself took the stand last week to give their account of what happened on September 17.

The police officers said they were on patrol when they saw Joe at the side of the road smoking what smelled like a cannabis cigarette. They drove past him, but turned around and went back. They stated that when they were five to eight feet away from Joe, he started running.

The police then alighted the vehicle and gave chase, which saw them running through yards and over walls. A warning shot was apparently fired during the pursuit, and one of the police officers saw Joe drop what appeared to be a gun.

Upon further examination, a gun was found near the area where Joe was apprehended. He is also said to have given a false name to the police officers, calling himself ‘Jamal Carter’. Joe was then arrested and charged for the offence.

Joe’s version of the story had only slight differences. He said he was walking along the Questelles public road when he saw the officers, but ran because, to his knowledge, there was a warrant out for him.

The second difference in the stories was that he stated he never gave the police officers a fake name. Finally, he also said he never had a gun in his possession.

Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche asked the defendant how he knew the police were looking for him, to which Joe replied that he had heard that they went to his parents’ house at Stubbs. The prosecutor then went down a line of questioning directed at proving that Joe had made up the story about the outstanding warrant being his reason for running.

In his defence, Joe stated that the police had never asked him why he ran. Delplesche then asked him who was ‘Jamal Carter’ and if the arrest warrant was for Jamal Carter. Joe insisted that he never told the police that he was called Jamal Carter, to which the prosecutor said that he was asking him because he is known for giving the police fake names.

Nevertheless ‘Gambeeno’ remained steadfast in proclaiming his innocence to the end.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne stated that upon reflection on the evidence, she found that the evidence given by Joe was very similar to the police officers’, except for the fake name and the possession of the gun, two areas which Joe had chosen not to question witnesses on.

She found him guilty and in her consideration noted that the firearm had been loaded when it was found and this could have resulted in a very different end to the chase by the police.

Joe was given 11 months in prison for the six rounds of ammunition and four and a half years for possession of the revolver; the offences will run concurrently.(KR)