Rejecting submissions for non-custodial sentences, Justice Carlisle Greaves has sentenced three men caught “red-handed” in 2013 with 18 firearms and almost 650 rounds of ammunition to a total of 15 years in prison — the maximum allowed by law at that time.
Following discounts for delay, mitigating factors, and time spent on remand, Corrie Macaulay Brathwaite, Martez Davidson Hackett, and Warren James Husbands will each serve 12 years at Dodds Prison for the offences committed on September 24, 2013.
Justice Greaves said: “If you were sentenced to non-custodial sentences in this case, having regard to the quantum of firearms and ammunition you possessed, how would these courts ever be able to sentence anybody else in this country for possession of firearms? What would this court do if somebody possessed three or four or five firearms, or any amount less than 18, delay or no delay? The law is clear. The intention of the statute is for a custodial sentence to be imposed in cases of the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition in this country.
“The message must not be to our young citizens that you will possess firearms, in high or low quantities, and walk into these courts and get a fine. If it was otherwise the whole country would be walking around armed. To impose a different sentence upon you would lead this country into a situation where men would be buying guns like groceries and these courts would be in no way in a position to impose the appropriate penalty upon offenders. So that the sentence therefore must not only be one that punishes the offender but also be a deterrent to the offenders and potential offenders.”
Brathwaite, a customs broker of Dash Valley, St George; Hackett, a mechanic of Jackson Tenantry Road, St Michael; and Husbands, of Fitts Village, St James, were convicted by jury last December of possessing four Glock pistols, three Taurus pistols, a Springfield Armoury USA pistol, two Bersa pistols, a SIG Sauer pistol, a Herstal, a Para Ordnance, one Ruger, one Sturm Ruger, a SIG Arms pistol, a Smith & Wesson revolver, a Smith & Wesson pistol, and 647 rounds of ammunition.
Addressing the court on Monday, the three pleaded for non-custodial sentences, with one attorney submitting that they be fined $150 000 for the offences.
However, during his sentencing of the convicted men on Tuesday, the judge highlighted that every case must be judged on its particular set of circumstances and noted that given the aggravating nature of the offence and the length of imprisonment being imposed, “a fine of any amount could not be said to be reasonable in the circumstances as a substitution.”
Citing that there had been no cases where a person with three or more firearms was not imprisoned, he described the matter as the “worst firearm possession case” in the country’s history and said it would attract the “apex” sentence of 15 years, particularly given the aggravating factors.
Focusing on Brathwaite, who he considered the “ringleader” and “kingpin”, Justice Greaves said the experienced customs broker had been trusted by customs officers, and that his actions represented a serious breach of that trust.
The judge said: “On the day of the event, he personally visited the customs house dressed up very nicely according to the evidence of the customs officer…. It was customary for him to send his transporter who used to drive the truck and collect the goods for him to clear. But on this day Mr Brathwaite went himself.
“The reasonable inference to draw from that was that he knew what was in there and did not want those things to be inspected, as a man who people trusted. And he used that trust to effect retrieval of those items without inspection, thereby leaving every customs broker now under the spectre of suspicion and leaving customs officers under the spectre of suspicion as well.
“He is the one who arranged with the driver to transport the goods and have them either delivered to him or to the apartment at Ealing Park used by Mr Hackett. And incredibly he turned up at that same apartment at which the alleged client, whose name was on that package and who is dead, never lived. So how did he know to go to that apartment and the excuse he gave in the trial holds no water at all.”
He added that the evidence showed Brathwaite had arranged for the driver to pick up Husbands that day.
Regarding Hackett and Husbands, the judge said both voluntarily participated in the enterprise: stating the former had arranged for the apartment for the weapons to be lodged and assembled in secrecy, and the latter was involved in the assembly of the guns.
Justice Greaves stressed that none of the convicted men had the authority or licence from the Commissioner of Police to possess, handle, or distribute firearms:
“What is the only inference in the world that one can draw about three persons in a room with 18 firearms and 647 rounds of ammunition which they are apparently assembling? Is it the inference that these firearms were to be put to good use, or to the use that would be to the detriment of the citizens, residents, and visitors of this nation?… That act by these defendants was a colossal betrayal of the citizenry of this country. It was a betrayal not only of their families but a betrayal to every single resident of this country. It constituted a serious threat to the safety and security of this country. It was a breach of our security rights and our protection under the law.”
Speaking on the mitigating factors, the judge pointed to their favourable pre-sentence reports and Brathwaite’s and Husbands’ lack of criminal records, noting that Husbands’ prior conviction was not related to the matter and therefore would not be considered. Justice Greaves, however, did not consider the recovery of the firearms and ammunition to be mitigating, stating that it was not due to any action by the defendants.
Ruling on a motion by Brathwaite and Hackett claiming that delays in bringing the matter to trial had infringed their constitutional rights, the judge found no unreasonable delay between their being charged in 2013 and the matter being committed by the magistrate in 2016, or between 2024 and 2026.
He did, however, find unreasonable delay between 2016 and 2024, crediting each defendant with three months for each of those eight years.
Justice Greaves told the convicted men: “You otherwise good men have allowed yourselves to fall to the corruption of greed and dishonesty, and by it you have hurt your families and the entire nation. For it, you must pay the penalty. You shall not be in jail forever… You will have the opportunity to return to society and do well. You may even be forgiven for your indiscretions in this case, but you must pay the penalty that is reasonable in this case.”
Principal State Counsel Romario Straker prosecuted the case, while Larry Smith KC and attorney Meshach Thornhill represented Brathwaite and Hackett, and Angella Mitchell Gittens SC represented Husbands.
(JB)
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