Police had turned down firearm licence for ‘Chucky

43-year old businessman Francis “Chucky” Richards who was caught with 25 rounds of .22 ammunition in St Lucia on October 6 had applied for a firearm licence for a .22 pistol but was turned down by the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) several years ago.

A police insider told THE NEW TODAY that the Police High Command had branded “Chucky” as a trouble maker and immediately rejected his application for the firearm.

He said the businessman, who operated Chucky Bar & Grill on Melville Street and often attracted a large clientele, was not too co-operative with law enforcement officials as the congestion on Friday evenings created a traffic nightmare in the city.

He spoke of the police refusing to grant ‘Chucky’ permission to stage the Friday afternoon “lime” and banned him from staging the event for a long time.

He said the lawmen only relented a few years later when the businessman came and “begged” on the grounds that his livelihood was being badly affected by the police action against him.

He also said that the Police Intelligence had suspicion that the city businessman was in possession of an illegal firearm although they never proved it.

He said if the police suspect that someone has an illegal firearm and they then applied for a licence then it can be considered as “a no, no.”

He pointed out that the person is deemed a law breaker “and when you go and give them more (firearms) then what will happen….. the one (firearm) you give them they could give somebody else.”

The senior police officer also expressed concern over the fact that some licensed firearm holders will leave the country without handing over the weapon to the nearest police station for safe-keeping.

He said it is quite possible that persons can go and break the chest-of-draw at their home where the firearm is kept and steal it.

“To be on the safe side you hand over your firearm to the police and in that way the police will have a lot more confidence in you when you are doing that.”

The senior police officer also commented on claims made by ‘Chucky’ that he was not aware that the bag that he travelled with to St Lucia had ammunition in it.

‘Chucky’ told law enforcement officials in Castries that he had picked up a bag from a construction worker in his building and travelled to St Lucia via Barbados without knowing that it contained the 25 rounds of ammunition inside it.

The senior cop said it is quite possible based on his own experience travelling to neighbouring Trinidad & Tobago with legal ammunition that he did not remember was in his Knapsack bag.

“I go to Trinidad already with bullets in my little bag – the carry-on that you are pulling. When I came back to Grenada they didn’t detect it either. I go back and say pass my bag under this thing (the scanner) let me see – they pass it, they didn’t see it – it didn’t show up.”

According to the police officer, the magazine with the bullets was close to the wheels of the knapsack and the scanner missed it.

“My bag go through everything in Trinidad and they don’t see it. When I reach Grenada I do it again and they don’t see it. All the Knapsack bags that you put on your shoulder and that you can roll – those that have the wheels, how it is made up the magazine hiding (the) bullets and things in it – it’s hard to see.”

The police officer spoke of telling security personnel at MBIA to always conduct a physical search of passengers travelling with similar bags through the airport.

He said the members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will have to pick up ‘Chucky’ on his return from St Lucia after paying his fine of EC$30, 000 for illegal possession of ammunition and question him in detail on the matter.

He felt that the businessman is exposing his workman to danger as the evidence given by him in St Lucia can be used against the person.

The $30, 000.00 fine was imposed Wednesday on ‘Chucky’ by female Magistrate Willie Trotman after he pleaded guilty to the charge of ammunition possession on October 9.

He was ordered to pay the fine in one month or face a prison sentence of six months.

‘Chucky’ is said to be the holder of a license for an Air Rifle gun for game hunting but not a .22 calibre revolver.

The businessman who is from a small village in St David has risen up the ranks to become a well-to-do business entrepreneur from being a mere street vendor selling nuts to also becoming a major promoter of entertainment events on the island.