Weeks after Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced the planned pardon of a possible 40 to 50 prison inmates, over a dozen have already gone home on early release.
According to information received, 16 persons serving sentences that should end in June 2021 have been pardoned by the Committee of Mercy.
Fourteen of them are said to have already been released.
Those receiving pardon include inmates sentenced for murder, inmates serving sentence for firearm, inmates jailed for property damage, inmates on remand awaiting bail, inmates who have defaulted on child maintenance and payment of fines, and other minor offences.
“I’ve requested a list from the Superintendent of Prisons, persons who are of minor offences and people who haven’t paid a fine and might be there and so on, who we can release and a couple of people who inside for maintenance monies and them kinda thing,” Prime Minister Gonsalves told reporters on tour to the volcano-ravaged North Leeward side of the country.
What is of interest is the deafening silence on the names of the prisoners released and why. Of particular interest among the inmates released is Layou resident Desley Gaymes.
Gaymes was sentenced to three years and ten months for possession of a shotgun in October 2020. He was also sentenced to six months for possession of two rounds of ammunition.
Her Majesty Prison has confirmed that Gaymes is among those pardoned, but there is no explanation why he is released seven months after he was given a sentence of almost four years.
On October 5, 2020, Gaymes was arrested at Layou after police, acting on information received, intercepted the jeep he was driving.
The 12-gauge shotgun, with two rounds of ammunition attached, was found in a red bag under the driver’s seat.
Gaymes said the shotgun was to protect his farm. He was arrested and charged with possession of a 12-gauge shotgun without a license and two rounds of ammunition without license.
The Layou farmer pleaded guilty to the charges when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne at the Serious Offences Court on October 12, 2020. He was sentenced to three years and ten months for the shotgun; and six months for the ammunition.
His lawyer Dr Linton Lewis told the court then, that he (Gaymes) had 14 acres of land on which he planted fruits and vegetables and that he also had over 100 heads of animals.
Dr Lewis said that while his client was in possession of the firearm unlawfully, he did not use it to do unlawful acts. He said his client was a victim of praedial larceny and used the weapon to scare off thieves who sometimes raid his farm.
Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delpesche countered Dr Lewis’ argument then, saying that he (Delpesche) is on record stating that farmers need to be protected from the incidence of Praedial larceny, but he has maintained that the protection must be done within the confines of the laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
