fbpx
Published On: Thu, Nov 30th, 2017

Man gets 12 months for firearm possession

PHILIPSBURG – An anonymous tip set the police on September 26 on the trail of Agropino Ambrocio Ash. During  a search of his father’s house at Grenada Road where he stayed, police found DVD-players in their original packaging, a blender and cigarettes, but also three firearms. He also had a shotgun with a sawn off barrel; another weapon had a silencer.

The Public Prosecutor charged the 31-year old Ash with theft and firearm possession but during the court hearing on Wednesday the Prosecutor said that there is insufficient evidence for theft or fencing of the items the police had found. She demanded however a 12-month prison sentence for firearm possession.

Attorney Safira Ibrahim said that the anonymous tip had come in on September 26 and that the police had done the house search on October 4. “You have to be very careful with anonymous tips,” she said. “this tip has not been investigated and therefore the found items have to be excluded from evidence.”

Based on this position, the attorney asked the court for an integral acquittal.

The court acquitted ash of theft or fencing the items the police found. “The basis for the house search was thin, but the police was authorized to do this,” the court ruled. It sentenced ash top 12 months for firearm possession.