Principal Magistrate Jerrick Stephney upheld no-case submissions made
by the attorneys for Shaheed Khan, Haroon
Yahya and policeman Sean Belfield,
who were charged with possessing an array of arms.
Khan, Yahya and Belfield were detained on December 4th last year by an
army patrol at the Good Hope Housing Scheme, where they were alleged to
have been found with a large stockpile of arms and munitions.
According to the particulars of the charges against the men, they were
allegedly found in possession of two M-16 rifles with 278 matching live
rounds of 5.56 ammunition, and two 9mm pistols with 201 matching live
rounds. Belfield, who is a constable attached to the Anti-Crime Task Force
unit of the Guyana Police Force, was also separately charged with two
summary offences for being in unlawful possession of a .40 Glock pistol
and 10 matching rounds of ammunition.
Appearing for Khan was attorney Glen Hanoman, for Belfield,
Vic Puran and
for Yahya, Nigel Hughes.
Upon the completion of the State’s case, the defence team made no-case
submissions to the magistrate, contending that there was no evidence to
establish a prima facie case.
After considering the submissions of both the prosecution and the defence,
Magistrate Stephney yesterday afternoon held that the evidence led by the
state did not present him with the justification to call upon the men to
lead a defence.
“...I therefore uphold the no-case submissions of the defence... I can
only do what I feel is right according to the law...”
Noting the factors that he had considered in the formulation of his
ruling, the magistrate first observed that there was
no evidence which proved that the men had had control of the vehicle where
the weapons were allegedly uncovered. It was the State’s case that the
men had had constructive control of the items in the vehicle, however,
Stephney considered that no one had even said anything of the
defendants’ proximity to the vehicle.
“I would have thought that would be the first thing they would have
established, where the men were standing, in order for the prosecution to
show that they had control. It did not come up in the arguments and as Mr
Puran observed, that should have been the end of the case...”
He also pointed out that though marked weapons had been referred to the
court, the law requires that marking must be done in the presence of the
accused, which was not the case in this particular circumstance.
Lastly, he said given the fact that Belfield was a member of the Police
Force at the time of the interception, arguments were never led to
establish if he was off-duty at the time, adding “this was not pursued
by the prosecution... I therefore cannot find reason to ask any of these
men for a defence.”
As the magistrate delivered his ruling the three men stood sedately in the
prisoner’s dock.
Hanoman, in his no-case submissions to the court, had contended
that the lack of cogent evidence was sufficient to illustrate that the
prosecution failed to make out a case.
Pointing out that it was established that the items were found in GHH
7539, Hanoman said that there was no real evidence before the court
relating to the ownership of the vehicle, nor any direct evidence
suggesting that the defendants were ever occupants of it. Even in the
event that the court did find evidence to support a claim that any of the
accused was in the vehicle, he argued that it was still to be proven
whether any of the men had custody or control of the items together with
knowledge of their existence.
Meanwhile, he also asserted that it was of fundamental importance that
Belfield is and was at all material times a serving member of the Guyana
Police Force. Belfield, he said, by virtue of his being a policeman, is
allowed to be in possession of firearms and ammunition, without need for a
licence, once requisite authority is granted by senior officers.
Following their detention on December 4th the three men were released by a
High Court judge five days later on $0.5M bail each after police failed to
charge them. They were subsequently charged on January 15 of this year and
were again released on $0.5M bail each.
