UPDATE: Man with loaded gun gets 2 years in prison
Farrell, 23, was given 24 months by Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards for the offence of carrying an unlicensed firearm and four months for possession of explosives (bullets).
Magistrate Richards said she accepted the aggravating factors put forward by the Crown, including the fact that the defendant made use of the weapon by cranking it before handing it over to Police.
His sentences are set to run concurrently from the date he was first remanded.
See previous story posted October 10, 2013:
Man found with loaded gun apologises to court & family
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Ricardo Farrell apologised to the court and to his family yesterday, October 3, 2013 for being involved in an incident that saw him being placed before the Magistrate's Court on gun possession charges.
Farrell, 23, pleaded guilty before Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards on September 16, 2013 to the charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm and possession of explosives.
In offering mitigation, his attorney Stephen Daniels noted his client’s young age while stating that he had no fixed placed of abode (Farrell reportedly stays at the Purcell Community Centre). The defendant is also the father of three young children.
Daniels told the court his client found the loaded gun at a restaurant near to the One Mart supermarket and fully intended to hand it over to the police. He also noted Farrell’s early guilty plea and the remorse he had shown after committing the alleged offences.
According to the allegations, police officers were on mobile patrol on September 13, 2013 in the Purcell Estate area when they received communication concerning the defendant who was in the vicinity of One Mart Supermarket.
When the police reportedly drove up to the defendant in a marked vehicle and asked the defendant to stop, he allegedly replied, ‘stop for what?’ and continued walking.
As a result, the officers exited the vehicle and approached the defendant from opposite sides, however, upon approaching, one officer observed that the defendant allegedly had a firearm in his left hand and he used his right hand to pull back the slide of the firearm to the rear.
The officers immediately held on to the defendant and quickly disarmed him. Farrell was cautioned and informed that it is an offence to have an unlicensed firearm in his possession. He allegedly replied, “Officer it is a gun, I just found it. I was giving it to you.”
The defendant was subsequently arrested under suspicion of carrying an unlicensed firearm and taken to the Road Town Police Station and charged with the offences.
The Crown cited the seriousness of the offence; its prevalence; the firearm being ready for use with a round allegedly being found in the chamber and the defendant allegedly walking away and cranking the gun as aggravating factors. His guilty plea at first appearance was noted as the lone mitigating factor.
Farrell will return to court on October 25, 2013 for sentencing.
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33 Responses to “UPDATE: Man with loaded gun gets 2 years in prison”
Another misguided youth....
Oh, he planned to turn in the gun but when the Police told him to stop, he asked "stop for what?!".. These Lawyers are some fine ones.
But he live in the community centre,he does live wit that girl who got like 5 kids.... And trust me this aint the first time he got g£n
the la**** is just as irrespinsible as this goon.
Bull ssst 2 years and cranking a weapon, he was in the states that last thing he would have heard was Pow.