Man pleads guilty, fined $7,000

Kerwin Williams was arrested in May 2014 but pleaded not guilty and remained incarcerated as he could not secure bail.

Yesterday, Williams made a decision to plead guilty before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in the San Fernando court.

The charge was read to him, that on May 2, 2014, he had in his possession a .38 revolver and six rounds of ammunition. Court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan told Magistrate Forde-John that police had cause to search a vehicle which Williams was driving. The other men were occupants in the car.

Officers discovered the gun on the floor of the vehicle below the driver’s seat, Seedan said.

Defence attorney Chantal Paul told the magistrate that Williams had been incarcerated for the past two years and eight months and his only previous conviction was for possession of marijuana. She pleaded with the court for a fine rather than a custodial sentence.

The accused, the court heard, is a father of two.

Magistrate Forde-John agreed with Paul’s views and fined Williams $7,000 of which, $1,500 was to be paid immediately and the rest within two months time. Failure to pay the fines would attract nine months in prison with hard labour