Man claims he was press-ganged into holding gun

(CNS): Mikael Antonio Williams (29) was jailed for seven and a half years in December 2022 after a loaded 9mm pistol and extra ammunition were found at the George Town home he shared with his partner and her adult daughter. Williams admitted having the weapon and where it was when police arrived with a search warrant at the home in Tropical Gardens back in July 2022. He told officers he had the gun because he had been called by gang members that very morning, who ordered him at gunpoint to keep the weapon until they collected it from him later that day.

Although Williams was charged and pleaded guilty in the summer of 2022, the sentence ruling was only recently published.

There is no indication from the brief ruling that has now been released that Williams gave any details of the gangsters he claimed press-ganged him into keeping the gun and ammunition, but the court did not consider any exceptional circumstances at all in relation to the charge. There is also no indication from the sentence ruling that the pistol had been used in a crime.

Although there was no indication that Williams had any previous criminal convictions and that he made an immediate admission and told the police where the gun could be found, Justice Frank Williams was of the view that the primary aim in this case was deterrence and rehabilitation. With no aggravating factors, he arrived at a starting point of eleven years.

He then deducted two and a half years for the defendant’s guilty plea, and another year was taken off because of his “cooperating with the search and informing the police where the weapon was”, leading to a term of seven years and six months behind bars. He was also given a sentence of two years for the 19 rounds of ammunition, which the court ordered should run concurrently.