By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAGISTRATE is set to determine the fate of a teenager who was found with a loaded pistol he claimed to have found in his neighbourhood last week.
Police arrested Taquan Mackey, 18, after they found a black Taurus 9mm pistol with a magazine containing six bullets in his bedroom on March 13.
He pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicenced firearm and ammunition when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.
The court was told a team of officers, acting on information, went to a Yellow Elder Gardens residence armed with a search warrant. Upon their arrival, they informed the occupants of their search and began their investigation. The prosecution said officers recovered the weapon when they searched a southern bedroom. He was subsequently arrested and transported to the Grove police station. When he was questioned he owned up to the offence and said the gun was his, claiming to have found it on a dirt road between Nicholl’s Court and Malvern Road.
Mackey’s attorney, Nathan Smith said this was his client’s first time appearing before a court. He also stated Mackey took ownership of the weapon from the onset and admitted his wrongdoing. Noting the 18-year-old had “barely crossed the threshold of a juvenile,” Mr Smith asked the court to take a rehabilitative view with Mackey.
“He happened upon the firearm and picked it up,” Mr Smith argued. “It was not bought or sought, but he came upon it by happenstance.”
In response, prosecutor Samantha Miah noted Mackey was old enough to know right from wrong. She also stated the accused made a “foolish” decision when he chose to take the firearm home and keep it. Ms Miah insisted the offence was a very serious one since several of the crimes that have troubled the country in recent times have been linked to the use of unlicenced firearms.
After listening to both sides, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said she would need time to review the case before she passed a sentence. As a result, she remanded Mackey to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services overnight.
He returns to court today for sentencing.
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