Jesus quoted in gun case – No gun shop in BVI

Magistrate’s Court at John’s Hole, Tortola

Now at the mercy of a senior magistrate, Selvin Chinnery today declared  that he had no intention to use the illegal gun police found at his Jost Van Dyke residence just over a year ago.

“This is not something I had intention of ever using… Your Honour, I’m sorry,” Chinnery told Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards this morning, May 10.

He pleaded guilty yesterday to possession of ammunition, and carrying an unlicensed firearm.

The court was told today that the weapon, which had started to corrode, was put away for years.

While appearing as a character witness for his guilty brother, George Chinnery stated that the gun was put away for so long that Selvin even forgot he had it.

“If he did remember, he would have gotten rid of it,” George today told Senior Magistrate Richards.

He added: “We all are human, Your Honour. We all have the tendency to forget… Like Jesus said: ‘He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.”

However, when the senior magistrate asked whether it was right for Selvin to have an illegal weapon, George accepted that his brother was wrong.

“Do you know of any place that manufactures guns in the BVI?” Senior Magistrate Richards further asked.
George said no.

The senior magistrate then ordered that Selvin be further remanded, pending his sentencing on June 27.

The offender is being represented by attorney-at-law Marie-Lou Creque.

Selvin’s bail was revoked yesterday after he pleaded guilty to the gun-related offences.

Reports are that, on April 12 last year, the law enforcers were called to Selvin’s Jost Van Dyke residence in relation to a domestic matter between him and his wife.

While there, the law enforcers searched the premises and discovered a grey case, which was concealed under a galvanized sheet outside the house.

An unloaded pistol was reportedly found inside the case.

The court heard that the weapon had started to corrode. When cautioned in relation to the find, Selvin reportedly told the police: “I know the person who kept it there.”

During a police interview, he reportedly admitted that he was the owner of the weapon

Chinnery during a court appearance in 2013

This is not the first time the offender has been brought before the court on firearm-related charges.

In 2011, Selvin was hauled before the court for killing his brother’s dog with an unlicensed rifle. The magistrate at the time, Charmaine Rosan Bunbury, ordered him to pay $3,000 or spend six months in prison for the illegal rifle, and $500 or three months for the ammunition.

Selvin was also convicted of being armed with an offensive weapon back in 2013. Magistrate Richards sentenced him to six months imprisonment after he discharged a nail gun in the direction of another man with whom he had a dispute.

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