By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 19-year-old teenager admitted yesterday to having a loaded gun that he threw out of a car window during a police chase in Montell Heights last weekend.
However, he denied having two assault rifles that were allegedly recovered during the incident.
Magistrate Lennox Coleby charged Shakeil Taylor, 19, and two 16-year-old males whose names are being withheld because they are minors, with possession of unlicensed firearms with intent to supply, possession of ammunition with intent to supply, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.
The juveniles were arraigned in the presence of their parents and guardians. One appeared before the magistrate with his right arm in a sling.
Police allegedly caught them speeding in a heavily tinted silver coloured Suzuki Swift around 10pm on June 9. During a high speed pursuit, Taylor threw a blue and black 9mm Taurus G2C pistol out of the window before the vehicle crashed into a wall on Ethel Street.
The defendants were allegedly found with a black AK-47 rifle, a black and brown Draco AK-47 rifle, and 53 rounds of 7.62 ammunition.
When police recovered the 9mm pistol, they found it had 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Taylor was the sole defendant to plead guilty to the firearm and ammunition charges. All three defendants pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges.
Nathan Smith, Taylor’s attorney, informed the magistrate that this was his client’s first offence and that he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. After claiming that Taylor was not the driver that night, Mr Smith said that the defendant put himself at the court’s mercy and is capable of rehabilitation.
Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent Lincoln McKenzie asked that the remaining two defendants’ bail hearing be deferred to Monday so that he could review their criminal status. Magistrate Coleby granted this request despite the protest of David Cash, who represented one of the juveniles.
The two juveniles will be remanded to the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys until their next court date, while Taylor will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Taylor’s sentencing was deferred until the conclusion of the trial related to his remaining firearm charges, and his future sentence will be backdated to the day of his first conviction.
The trial in this matter begins on August 8.
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