Suspect denies using gun to resist arrest
(CNS): A 22-year-old Bodden Town man who has been charged with using an imitation gun with the intention of evading arrest has pleaded not guilty to the allegations. Jonathan Welcome denied that he was in possession of an imitation firearm in April this year, when he reportedly faced down police with a weapon on School Road in George Town. After a short indictment hearing Thursday, Welcome was remanded in custody by Justice Malcolm Swift until the trial, which is expected to take place in September.
Welcome was arrested in Prospect several days after he reportedly fled from the authorities following a stand-off with the police in the early morning hours of 17 April near to McField Square.
Officers have not recovered the weapon that Welcome was said to have brandished at two officers, which means he has avoided being charged with possession of a real firearm, which carries a ten-year minimum jail term.