Father discovers 'missing' son was in jail for illegal gun

Aubyn Jarrett, 38, said that last Friday was worse than the day he lost his leg.

That's because he heard that his 15-year-old son, who he thought had gone missing because he didn't come home from school, was in custody for illegal gun possession.

The disabled father from St Ann, whose life mission is to provide a life of comfort for his children, said as he was about to file a missing persons report, he got a call that his son had been arrested.

"I didn't even finish the missing persons report, the phone rings and they say that he is in custody," Jarrett recalled.

The teenager was on his way to a party, which his father had not given him permission to attend, when patrol police made a spot check and discovered an illegal firearm in the vehicle.

"I know that it wasn't his, but it goes back to everything that I have been telling him about being in the wrong company," Jarrett told THE STAR.

The teenager was released from custody on Monday when one of the occupants of the vehicle confessed that the firearm belonged to him.

Jarrett said his son, who is a ninth-grader, was just coming off suspension after he misbehaved at school.

"Is last week Wednesday mi go up a di school, so the reason he never asked me permission to go the party is because him know mi would tell him no," Jarrett explained.

Disabled but trying

Jarrett, who runs a small shop in his community of Watt Town, said he would do almost anything to ensure that his three children are provided for.

"Despite mi foot, mi nuh wutliss, so mi deal wid the shop and mi sell ice cream and dem ting deh to ensure that everything all right," Jarrett said.

Jarrett lost his leg after he left an internal wound in his thigh unattended.

He said he was told by his doctors that blood from the wound leaked on to the knee bone, which caused it to rot.

"I notice mi start to get cramp in the leg and after going to couple a doctors, dem tell mi that," Jarrett recalled.

He said that there was an option for him to do a bone transplant, but he couldn't afford it at the time.

"When I decided to cut off the leg, I realised that it wasn't of any use to me anymore," Jarrett said.

He said he is only hard on his children because he wants the best for them.

"Him mother always think that mi hard pon him, but is because him naah do the thing dem weh mi a teach him."