Illegal gun lands GT man seven years in jail

(CNS): A local man was given the minimum mandatory jail term of seven years Thursday after pleading guilty to carrying an unlicensed Smith & Wesson .38 handgun following his arrest outside a local bar in August. Randy Parchment (35), from central George Town, is the latest person caught with a gun because of threats made on his life to learn that self-defence is not an exceptional circumstance when it comes to prison time for illegal firearms.

Parchment, who was tasered several times by police before he was disarmed and arrested outside Bananas, said that a dozen different people were out to get him, which was why he had armed himself with a loaded gun.

When he appeared for sentencing, the court heard that although Parchment had resisted arrest on the night police were called to the bar after a report about an armed man, once in custody he cooperated. He had admitted the illegal possession of the loaded gun and over forty rounds of ammunition that were found at his house during a search, but he said he had the gun and the bullets because so many people wanted to kill him.

There was no evidence from the crown that Parchment had fired the weapon or threatened anyone on the night in question or any other occasion. But as Justice Dame Linda Dobbs handed down two mandatory terms for the gun and the ammunition, which she said should run concurrently, the judge acknowledged that Parchment had not only been threatened but also shot at on two separate occasions and that he had armed himself because he was motivated by genuine fear.

He had told the police that he was not a gang member and people had no reason other than a “bad mind” to want to kill him. Although he had given names of at least three of the men he said were out to get him, the court heard that he had little confidence in the ability of the police to protect him, which was why he had made what he accepted was the “foolish step” of arming himself.

According to a social enquiry report, Parchment has been in and out of jail since he was a teenager, when he first began using drugs and alcohol, which have fuelled much of his criminality. He was jailed in 1999 for manslaughter after he stabbed and killed a man when he was provoked into a fight and he has continued to be a familiar face in the criminal justice system since he was released.

His defence attorney, Krister Brady, told the court that Parchment has felt safer in jail after his arrest in this case than he has felt for some time on the street. He has also had time to reflect, his lawyer added.

The court heard that he is now seeking spiritual enlightenment by attending church and Bible study at the prison.