Denoon fined for having excess ammunition

FORMER CHAIRMAN of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Lennox Denoon appeared in the Scarborough Magistrates’ Court yesterday on two firearm and ammunition charges. He pleaded guilty on both counts and was fined $150 by Magistrate Joan Gill.

Denoon was charged with discharging a firearm within 40 yards of a public road and possession of ammunition in excess of what is allowed under the terms and conditions of the Firearm User’s Licence. An officer attached to the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) laid the charges since the incident occurred in close proximity to where OCNU officers were carrying out a drug bust. The court heard that on February 15 OCNU officers were conducting an operation on Carrington Street, Scarborough, at 11.15 pm, when they heard a gunshot that apparently came from a car nearby. A plain-clothes officer went to the car and found Denoon sitting in the driver’s seat with a .38 revolver in his hand. When he was questioned about his actions, Denoon replied loudly: “I am Lennox Denoon and I just wanted you to know that I was passing through.” The police then took the gun from Denoon and upon inspection, found four live shells and one spent shell in it. Denoon had the licence for the firearm with him. He was taken to the Scarborough CID and charged. Police later visited Denoon’s house and found 22 live rounds of ammunition. He was then charged for possession of 33 rounds of ammunition, eight above the allowed limit of 25 in accordance with his licence.  The revolver, the ammunition and the licence were admitted into evidence.

In his plea for leniency, attorney Neville Gibbs said Denoon fired a warning shot in the air after he noticed strange activities involving plain-clothes men in a drain off the road. Gibbs told the court the area was close to the popularly known “Ants Nest” drug den and Denoon owned a business on the street. He said drug addicts had vandalised Denoon’s business before. He said Denoon spotted a car parked in the middle of the road and when he saw the skirmish, he shot into the air. He told the magistrate Denoon was a “very prominent member of the society”, a former chairman of the THA, a Justice of the Peace and someone who had given several years service to Tobago. Gibbs said Denoon had the firearm for 12 years and that this was the first incident he had been involved in. Ironically, the Scarborough Magistrates’ Court was officially opened by Denoon on August 6, 1996 and a plaque bearing his name is at the main entrance to the court.

Denoon was the National Alliance for Reconstruction’s (NAR) Chairman of the THA up to 1996, before Act 40 gave new autonomy to Tobago and changed the post from Chairman to Chief Secretary. He was succeeded by leader of the NAR, Hochoy Charles who served from 1996 to 2001.  He recently began showing up at official THA functions and even jointly turned the sod with Chief Secretary Orville London, to begin construction of the $8 million Scarborough esplanade project. “For him to be coming to court after all these years is very unfortunate,” Gibbs said. After listening to Gibbs’ leniency plea, Magistrate Gill reprimanded and discharged Denoon on the first charge. On the second charge of possessing ammunition in excess of what his licence permitted, he was fined $150. Magistrate Gill warned however that Denoon’s stature in society was not an excuse for contravening the law. She pointed out that possession of a firearm was a privilege, not a right. As he left the court, Denoon smiled and told reporters: “I didn’t think I was still newsworthy.”