Architect Charged with Possession of Illegal Firearm and Ammunition: Court Proceedings and Pre-Sentencing Report Requested

Somebody “messed” her up, said architect Raquel Shaheda Karimah Thompson, after police found an illegal firearm in her laundry room.

She knew just who the person was after she recognised the gun was in one of the bags the man, with whom she was having a secret relationship, used to transport his staff’s wages.

However, when police interviewed the individual, he denied any knowledge about the illegal gun or bullets.

These were some of the facts outlined to the No. 5 Supreme Court yesterday.

Thompson, 36, of Harmony Circle, The Belle, St Michael, had just pleaded guilty to having a .38 special calibre firearm and eight rounds of ammunition in her possession on July 23, 2021.

She was represented by King’s Counsel Michael Lashley, who requested a pre-sentencing report.

Justice Pamela Beckles ordered the report and adjourned its production until March 6. Sentencing submissions were scheduled for March 13 and Thompson remains on bail until then.

Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis, who appeared with State Counsel Eleazar Williams, said police, armed with a search warrant, went to Thompson’s house.

When she answered and identified herself, they asked her if there was a firearm in the house.

She replied that if there was one, “it would have to be in the laundry room”.

When lawmen searched the room, they found the gun and bullets in a pouch, which was in a box.

When she was asked to account for the illegal weapon, Thompson replied: “That n*****. I think somebody messed me up.”

She later denied legally or illegally owning a gun or having a firearm licence. She further said the ammunition was not hers.

She was subsequently arrested and taken to District ‘E’ Police Station.

There she spoke to her attorney Neville Reid and later opted to write her own statement, in which she said she had developed a professional, then a romantic relationship with the man, which they kept secret.

She said she knew the man owned a handgun and that he was going through the process of acquiring a firearm licence because he carried large sums of money to pay his employees.

That man, Thompson’s statement said, had unfettered access to her house.

She wrote that when police discovered the gun, she recognised the bag it was in as one which the man used to transport wages.

When Thompson was further questioned by police, she said there were tradesmen who had access to her home. Police interviewed them but they denied any knowledge of the weapon.

Police also interviewed the man and he, too, denied knowing about the gun.