Illegal gun, ammo charges dismissed against miner

Unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition charges against a 33-year-old gold miner of Mabura Landing, Upper Demerara River were dismissed when he made his final appearance before Magistrate Clive Nurse at the Linden Magistrate’s Court earlier this week.
Klaus Pearce had denied the charges when they were first read to him in March of this year. The first charge stated that on March 10, 2018, he had 22 live .380 rounds of ammunition in his possession at Seaballi Backdam, Upper Demerara River. The second charge stated that on the same date at the same location, he had a matching .380 semi-automatic pistol in his possession without a firearm licence being in force at the said time.
According to Police information, Pearce was arrested by ranks about 09:45h on March 10, 2018 at Seaballi Backdam, Upper Demerara River with the weapon and matching ammunition.
However, in handing down the decision, Magistrate Nurse cited that there were misstatements of facts by a Police witness, which he noted created a difficulty for the court with respect to reliability. He said based on the facts presented, the credibility of the witness could not be relied on and, therefore, the court could not rely on his evidence. The witness had indicated that Pearce acted suspiciously and had reached for the bag which contained the illegal items. However, Magistrate Nurse also indicated that at the time of the incident, there was another person present at the location along with Pearce, but was never questioned in relation to the incident. He also pointed out that there was no evidence to show that the bag with the illegal items belonged to Pearce and the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the charges.