Bartica miner allegedly found with sub-machine gun granted bail

Stephen Martindale, the miner arrested on Monday for allegedly having an unlicensed gun in his possession at Arangoy, Mazaruni, appeared before a city court yesterday and was granted bail.

It is alleged that on January 11 at Arangoy Backdam, Region Seven, Martindale, 39, of Lot 5 Fourth Avenue, Bartica, had in his possession a 9mm submachine gun without being the holder of a firearm licence. He pleaded not guilty to the charge which was read by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Attorney- at- law Peter Hugh entered an appearance on Martindale’s behalf. In a bail application, Hugh said on Monday, the police carried out a search at this client’s mining camp, where about 20 persons were working at the time. Martindale, he said, is a licensed firearm holder affiliated with the security arm of the mining company and is licensed to carry several firearms.

According to the attorney, on the day in question, several firearms including his client’s personal firearm, were discovered by the police in a secured box. The gun in question, he said, was discovered in an unsecured box where any of the 20 workers at the camp could have access to it.

According to Hugh, his client had no reason to carry an unlicensed firearm as he is a licensed firearm holder.

Prosecutor Neville Jeffers opposed Hugh’s bail application and said the firearm was found in a cupboard next to the defendant’s bed. The prosecutor added that although Martindale is a licensed firearm holder, he does not Broadcaster and Editor- in- Chief of Capitol News, Enrico Woolford is a member of the Commonwealth Observer Mission for the January 22 general elections on the Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu.

A release from the Commonwealth Secretariat on Monday said that the mission is headed by the former Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham.

The snap election is being held nine have a licence for the particular firearm found.

The Chief Magistrate placed Martindale on $300,000 bail and transferred the matter to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for January 22. months ahead of schedule, following a period of political instability in which 14 Members of Parliament were convicted of bribery, the release said. The convictions resulted in political stalemate between the Government and the Opposition which prompted President Baldwin Lonsdale to dissolve Parliament.

The Commonwealth’s SecretaryGeneral, Kamalesh Sharma, mobilised the Observer Group at the invitation of the Vanuatu Government.