By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHREE OF the four men who were given stiff prison sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years after they pleaded guilty in 2002 to the record find of 41,000 rounds of ammunition were successful yesterday in having their sentences reduced by the Court of Appeal. Oliver Irons, 43-year-old part-time teacher, of 56 Ridgeway Road, Kingston 19, who was a member of the Jamaica Rifle Association and a father of four children had his 25-year-prison sentence reduced to 12 years. He had pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Phillip Robinson, 30, a telephone repairman of Mimosa Avenue, Kingston 10, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at hard labour for the illegal possession of 106 rounds of ammunition, had his sentence reduced to seven years. District Constable Desmond Gayle of 18 Cassiadene Avenue, Eastwood Park Gardens, St. Andrew, who was jailed for 15 years for the illegal possession of 27,000 rounds of ammunition which were found at his house, will serve 12 years. Leighton Pryce, a personnel officer of Southampton, St. Elizabeth, was jailed for 10 years for illegal possession of ammunition but he did not appeal his sentence.
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
The men were arrested when a van driven by Price was intercepted by the police on the Mandela Highway in November 2001. Electrical appliances in the vehicle were searched and several rounds of ammunition were found. The police then went to the homes of Iron, Gayle and Phillips where the rounds of ammunition were found. Investigations by the police led to the ammunition finds at the homes of the other men.
When the men appeared in the Gun Court they pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced by Mrs. Justice Marva McIntosh.
Mr. R. N. A. Henriques, Q.C. and attorney-at-law George Soutar submitted on behalf of Irons on Tuesday that the 25 years imprisonment imposed on Irons was outrageous because there were licences for three of the four firemarms found in his possession. Mr. Henriques said that the fourth firearm for which there was no licence was locked away in a vault at the Jamaica Rifle Club. Mr. Henriques pointed that there was no evidence that Irons was going to use the weapons in pursuance of any illegal activity. He also challenged the sentence for illegal possession of ammunition on the ground that in respect to the 9000-odd rounds of ammunition for which Irons pleaded guilty there was no report to show the variation of the ammunition because they were just listed as assorted rounds.
