Currie turns over firearm to FLA

T HE STAR has been reliably informed that embattled Maroon chief Richard Currie yesterday handed over his gun to the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), a day after the agency's CEO Shane Dalling said he was in breach of the Firearms Act.

Dalling, during a FLA press conference on Tuesday at the AC Hotel in St Andrew, disclosed that Currie was issued with two gun permits which have now expired. He also outlined that Currie failed to renew his gun licence and that the matter was referred to the police. According to the news team's source, Currie, with a travelling party of more than five people, arrived at the FLA's St Andrew offices about 3:45 p.m. He left 45 minutes later. Currie is being represented by prominent Queen's Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson. The source informed that Currie, who is colonel of the Accompong Maroons in St Elizabeth, had attempted to apply for a new permit but was denied.

THE STAR also understands that Currie's gun permit was up for renewal from September 2021. The news team attempted to get a comment from Neita-Robertson but calls to her mobile went straight to voicemail. Last year, the regulatory body said it would investigate Currie following the release of video on social media that showed a confrontation between him and members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in Bethsalem, St Elizabeth.

In the video, Currie was heard telling the police to leave the area after they allegedly went there to destroy marijuana plants. Currie had a shotgun slung over his back.