Her Majesty’s Prison on Cayon Street in Basseterre

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NATIONAL cricketer Leverette Taylor and Shawn Henry were yesterday (Nov. 19) remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison after being charged “on a warrant in the first instance for the offence of shooting at with intent”.

The 24-year-old Taylor and Henry (early 20s) appeared yesterday before a city magistrate charged with the Tuesday night (Nov. 16) shooting at Akeem Edwards (20) of Brown Hill, Nevis.

According to Police Press and Public Relations Officer Inspector Vaughan Henderson, “At approximately 8:28 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, officers at the Tabernacle Police Station received a report of shots fired in Molineux.

Officers from the Tabernacle Police Station, Strike Force and SSU responded immediately and were on the scene in minutes.

“Enquiries revealed that a 20-year-old man from Nevis was travelling along the road in the vicinity of the Mary Charles Hospital at Molineux, en route to visit his girlfriend in the same village, when two masked men fired multiple gunshots at him. The victim managed to escape unharmed and subsequently gave a detailed statement to the police.”

Henderson told this media house that investigations not only led to the arrest and subsequent charge of the two men, but also the discovery of “two pistols (one semi-automatic), 28 live rounds, a number of spent shells and several dark-coloured pants, shoes, socks and hoodies within the vicinity of the crime”.

This recent find, Henderson said, brings to 30 the number of firearms taken off the streets of the Federation for the year.
SKNVibes had learnt that following the Tuesday night’s shooting incident, Henry had allegedly reported to the Pogson Medical Centre in Sandy Point for treatment to a gunshot injury. He however allegedly failed to provide answers to the authorities as to how he was shot, where he was shot and by whom.

In seeking confirmation to this information, SKNVibes sought the police’s assistance and was told by Inspector Henderson that “one of the accused has a gunshot injury in the right instep but he declined to give a statement on how he came by his injury. The police are however investigating this incident also”.

Inspector Henderson further informed that according to the laws of the Federation, the two accused could not have been granted bail yesterday because the magistrate has no jurisdiction for granting same in firearm-related matters. “They will have to apply to the High Court for bail,” he added.