Former US soldier held with firearm granted bail

Tamil Chin, a former United States soldier who was held with an illegal firearm earlier this month, was granted bail when he appeared  in the St Catherine Parish Court on Wednesday.

The accused lawyer, Mathew Simms, made a successful bail application after the court requested documentation showing that his client was Jamaican by birth. 

After being supplied with Chin's (expired) Jamaican passport and birth certificate and his US Passport, Senior Parish Court Judge Desiree Alleyne, granted bail in the sum of $500,000 with one or two sureties.

Simms also argued that his client, who was recently honourably discharged from the US army following two tours of Afghanistan, suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and had no knowledge  of the gun in his possession.

Chin is to surrender his travel documents and is to report to the Central Village police two times weekly.

It is reported that on December 8, police personnel assigned to the St Catherine South Police Division stopped a vehicle the accused was driving. A search of the vehicle was done and a nine millimetre pistol loaded and 11 rounds of ammunition were seized .

He was subsequently charged with  possession of  a prohibited weapon and unauthorised possession of ammunition.

- Rasbert Turner 

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