Edward McCullen was on Monday sentenced to three years when he made his appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and was found guilty of being in possession of an illegal firearm along with matching ammunition. He was also fined $50,000 each for the two charges.
It was alleged that on June 5, 2015 at East La Penitence, Georgetown, he had in his possession one Intratec firearm and matching ammunition without a gun and ammunition licence.
The Prosecution contended that Police officers were in the vicinity of East La Penitence when gun shots were heard.
Upon investigating, the defendant was seen running with the gun in his hand. The Police gave chase and he dropped the weapon in a nearby septic tank and approached the officers. He was arrested, taken to the septic tank where the gun was recovered and later taken to Eve Leary Headquarters where he was charged.
In presenting her ruling, Magistrate McLennan said that after investigations, it was established that the gun found in the septic tank was the same weapon used to fire the shots that were heard. Also the shell casing matched those found in the firearm.
Additionally, the defendant was previously convicted for 58 months on a similar offence, a possession charge.
After considering the facts of the case, McLennan declared that the court is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did carry out the act for which he is charged.
However, the defendant was not satisfied with the ruling and pleaded to the McLennan saying that he was not in possession of any firearm nor was he even aware of the incident for which he is being charged.
He explained that on the day in question, he was sitting on his bridge when Police officers ran past him. He added that as they were returning, they noticed him on the bridge and arrested and later charged him with the offence.
Magistrate McLennan explained to him that the evidence provided proved contrary to his plea and handed down the sentence.
