A High Court judge has sentenced a 30-year-old Sutherlands man to four years in prison after police discovered a significant cache of ammunition and firearm-related items at his home. According to Antigua.news, the case marks the first known use of sentencing referral powers introduced under the Firearms Amendment Act of 2024.
Justice John Spencer handed down the sentence to Daquan George, who pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. George received four years for the ammunition offence and two years for possession of the firearm and magazines, with both sentences running concurrently.
The charges stem from a police search conducted on July 31, 2025, when officers from the Guns and Gangs Suppression Unit executed a warrant at George's Sutherlands residence. During the operation, officers discovered a black shopping bag inside a washroom at the front of the property. The bag contained 140 rounds of ammunition of varying calibres, six firearm magazines, and a pen gun.
Police reported that George admitted ownership of the items when questioned at the scene. He later told investigators he had found the bag along a shortcut approximately one month prior and brought it home intending to sell the contents, though he subsequently claimed he had decided to dispose of the items instead.
The matter first appeared before Senior Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel in December 2025, where George entered guilty pleas to both charges. Rather than sentencing George at the Magistrate's Court level, Emanuel referred the case to the High Court under provisions introduced through the Firearms Amendment Act of 2024. The magistrate ruled that the quantity and nature of the items recovered made the matter too serious for the lower court to adequately address.
