Couple avoid jail for help in gun case

(CNS): A couple who assisted the prosecution in securing the conviction against a local gunman avoided custodial sentences Tuesday for their own part in handling the weapon as a judge found that there was no intent in their involvement. Sean Dunbar and Ashley Terry had gone to the EverGlo bar in Bodden Town to celebrate their engagement but found themselves in what the judge described as a “nightmare” when they encountered Jose ‘Peto’ Sanchez and his loaded gun.

Terry (27), who was charged with accessory to possession of an unlicensed firearm, was given a conditional discharge by Justice Charles Quin for her fleeting possession of the weapon after Sanchez thrust it at her and walked away.

Delivering his sentencing ruling in the Grand Court relating to the incident last summer, the judge said Terry was terrified and confused as she realised what she had been given by a man she knew to have a frightening reputation. The judge said her decision to simply put the gun and the ground was because she was “caught up in an absolute nightmare” that was not of her making.

He said Sanchez had thrust the firearm upon her with a “clear and menacing message” and she acted out of terror.

The judge said that Terry, a young mother of three with no previous convictions who had a solid work record until she found herself caught up in this case, had suffered significantly because of this incident, including threats made against her and her family because of her decision to give evidence in court.

Because of the “courageous and vital” evidence she had given, which had helped convict Sanchez, as well as her full and frank admissions about the fateful night, the judge said he believed the exceptional circumstances warranted the conditional discharge to help the young mother retain her clean record.

The judge said that Dunbar, her fiancé, made an error in judgement by retrieving the gun with the intention of throwing it in the pond rather than giving it to the police, but he was also part of the same nightmare. Justice Quin said he believed Dunbar had taken the gun to protect his girlfriend and ensure she was not associated with the illegal weapon thrust on her by Sanchez.

The judge said it was clear Dunbar had not wanted to handle the gun because he had refused to take it from Sanchez more than three times as he tried to offload the weapon when the police arrived at the bar, knowing that they were looking for him. But it was his refusal that made Sanchez push it at Terry.

Like his fiancée, Dunbar had also given evidence against Sanchez and had been threatened as a result. He had pleaded guilty to handling Sanchez’ loaded 9mm handgun after his girlfriend had placed it on the ground by their friend’s car because he was trying to protect her, not because he wanted the gun.

Finding exceptional circumstances in this case, he deviated from the statutory minimum seven-year jail term. Keen to send the message that assisting the police can have its rewards, Justice Quin handed Dunbar an 18 month sentence, which he opted to suspend for two years so that the young man could get back to his work and family and put the incident and the case behind him. Provided Dunbar retains a clean record and follows the direction of the probation service, he will not got to jail.

The judge said Dunbar, like Terry, would not have been anywhere near the gun had it not been for the actions of Sanchez. The judge said both Terry and Dunbar were frightened and confused by what happened, given that Sanchez had a reputation for murder.

Justice Quin pointed out that there is no legislation in the Cayman Islands that guides how people who are also facing criminal charges but who give evidence in the case are dealt with, and he suggested that it was something the attorney general may wish to consider.