Shop owner gets 1 year for illegal gun, ammo possession

A shop owner was given a one-year prison sentence days after he pleaded guilty to an illegal gun and ammunition charge at his first court appearance earlier in the week.
Thirty-one-year-old Ricolido Kyte, of Festival City, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was sentenced by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.
It was alleged that on July 30, 2019, at Meloge Landing, Cuyuni River, Essequibo, he had in his possession one 12-gauge shotgun and two live cartridges without being a licenced firearm holder.
Kyte had previously told the court that “I was a ranger at my father’s place. Recently, we were robbed, and they carry away all our gold; so I purchased the gun to protect my father’s interest and myself”.
He also noted that he has been working in the interior for the past seven years and is about to get married.
Attorney-at-Law George Thomas asked that Kyte be given a suspended sentence owing to the circumstances under which the gun was purchased.
The Magistrate, in handing down the sentence, said, “You know what you did was wrong and you should have done it legally but I’m not going to give you a heavy sentence”.
Hence, she sentenced him to one year in prison on the grounds that he was remorseful and did not waste the court’s time.
According to information on the day in question, Police acted on information went to the location where Kyte resides and carried out a search during which, the gun and matching ammunition were found in a bedroom.
He was thus arrested and charged.