BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A Ponds Extension resident was yesterday (Jun. 10) given, as what some members of the public say, “A slap on the wrist”, when he was sentenced to one month imprisonment for possession of an illegal firearm and possession of a quantity of ammunition.
Kylon Battice of Ponds Extension yesterday appeared before Chief Magistrate Josephine Mallalieu-Webbe at the Basseterre Magistrate Court and pleaded guilty to the charges.
The Chief Magistrate sentenced him to serve one month at Her Majesty’s Prison and ordered that his time spent on remand at the correctional facility be taken into consideration, which means he will be released in two weeks’ time.
On Wednesday (May 26), the 24-year-old was jointly charged with his two brothers, Keon Battice and Glenville Assent, after police, on the previous day, had executed a search warrant on their Ponds Extension residence and discovered a 9mm Beretta Pistol and 11 rounds of matching ammunition hidden in a washing machine.
The two brothers were subsequently released on $5,000 bail each while Kylon was remanded to prison. However, because of his admittance to ownership of the firearm and ammunition, the charges preferred against Keon and Glenville were withdrawn.
That seizure had taken to 11 the number of illegal firearms and over 127 rounds of assorted ammunition removed from the Federation’s streets for the year.
