Crime
Unlicensed Gun Discovery Leads to Jail Sentence in Barbados, Court Decisions Reflect Growing Concern
A young man in Barbados, Sachin Harewood, has been sentenced to over three years in jail for possession of a gun and ammunition without a valid license. Harewood claimed he found them and didn't know what they were.
3 min read
Originally published by nationnews.com (opens in new tab)
Had a young man who found a gun on a pasture left it right there, his life would have been very different and he would not be headed to jail.
“This court is tired of hearing these stories of guns being found all over Barbados. It appears that they are strategically placed for a peculiar group of people to find them.”
Justice Wanda Blair was speaking to recently convicted man Sachin “Sach” Alexander Tendulkar Harewood, who was found guilty of possession of a 9mm Kel-Tec pistol and six rounds of ammunition on July 15, 2020, without having a valid licence for either. At the end of the trial, the jury returned a 7-2 majority guilty verdict in the No. 4A Supreme Court, late last year.
Harewood, 23, a well-digger of Godding Road, Station Hill, St Michael, was being sentenced to three years, eight months and 12 days more in jail on each count, after the court made the relevant deductions for time already spent on remand, his remorse and the time the matter took to reach trial. Michael Lashley, KC, and Sade Harris represented Harewood.
During the case, Harewood accounted for having the weapons by explaining that he saw someone who was running from the police, dispose of the items, and out of curiosity he retrieved them, not knowing what they were.
“Having discovered what they were, you did not leave them where they were and called the police. You pick them up and took them home, and found nothing wrong with leaving home with a loaded gun to go to a fete,” the judge admonished him yesterday.
Police later came across him and five others in a vehicle during a “stop and search” in St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, where Harewood was holding a bag with the unlicensed items inside. He also said in his statement in court that they really belonged to one of the other passengers who threatened him to hold them, but that person had since died.
In determining sentence, Justice Blair considered remarks from the prosecutor and defence lawyer Harris, as well as Harewood’s favourable pre-sentencing report, which spoke of his involvement in sports in his community and his helpfulness to others.(SD)
