Former JLP councillor gets three years for gun charge
Published:Friday | February 26, 2021 | 9:46 AM
Former Jamaica Labour Party councillor for the Ensom City division in St Catherine, Barrington Bailey, was on Thursday sentenced to three years in prison on a gun charge.
Bailey had previously pleaded guilty to breaching the Firearms Act in Gun Court on October 26, 2020.
Bailey, who is of a Gordon Pen address in St Catherine, was arrested more than two years ago.
The police reported that about 5:40 p.m. on February 10, 2019, Bailey was driving an Acura motor car along Old Harbour Road in the parish when he was signalled to stop at a police-military checkpoint.
The police said that the vehicle was subsequently searched and two handguns discovered.
One of the weapons was reportedly unlicensed.
Bailey, who served as councillor from 2012 to 2016, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.
Following an investigation, the police submitted a file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which ruled that Bailey be formally charged.
The matter was first mentioned in the St Catherine Parish Court and subsequently transferred to the Gun Court, where he pleaded guilty last year.
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