4 Men Freed of Firearm Charges

Parris Williams

Today, four men were freed from two of three serious offenses related to a stolen firearm. The group was busted near the East Canal area of Belize City back in 2014, but their case has just come up in court. This morning, Parris Williams, Kashief Gallego, Ijaman Young and Akeem Garcia saw their case struck out for want of prosecution since the new criminal procedure rule is that if a matter has not been dealt within nine months, the matter must be struck out.  Attorney for Garcia and Williams, Bryan Neal, spoke with News Five about the case.

Bryan Neal, Attorney for Parris Williams &Akeem Garcia

“This matter is outstanding for at least two and a half years now. Under the new civil criminal procedures rules that were introduced this year by the Chief Justice, if matters do not proceed in a timely fashion, then the magistrates must strike them out. So I am glad today that the Chief Magistrate has given life to these rules and the matter having not been proceeded with for all this time, was eventually struck out and these young men have a second chance at life, as it were.”

The men were arrested on April twenty-second, 2014, and charged with keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and one count each of handling stolen goods.   The stolen goods involved a nine millimetre pistol, belonging to Herman Pastor Junior, a Public Officer of Rosewood Street, San Ignacio Town.   Pastor Junior reported to police in that jurisdiction that on January nineteenth 2013, he travelled to Nicaragua and left his firearm unattended. Upon his return to Belize on February twenty-fifth, 2013, he found out his gun was missing.