On the 15^th February 2013 Marcus Steve Manderson (25) was convicted by a jury of unlawful possession of an unlicenced firearm  – a modified Orion Flare Gun.

Manderson had been arrested in connection with the weapon when officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) in Windsor Park recovered it.

On the 5^th February 2012 police officers patrolling the Windsor Park area saw Manderson with what appeared to be a firearm in his hand. The officers immediately issued a command for Manderson to stop. Instead of complying with the instructions issued by the police officers he attempted to flee and, in the process of running away, threw the firearm into the yard of a nearby property. Manderson was apprehended very shortly thereafter.

Manderson was led back to the place where he had thrown what they believed to be a gun and a search of the area recovered the modified flare gun.

Manderson denied the gun was his and argued in Court that it was not a lethal weapon. The jury found that the gun was capable of firing a conventional bullet and seriously wounding or killing someone despite any evidence the gun had been fired. During the trial the jurors heard that with certain modifications an officer from the RCIPS Firearms Unit was able to fire a bullet from the gun in a test situation, and although two expert firearms witnesses disagreed with each other over the definition of the flare gun as a lethal weapon, they believed it should be considered a real firearm.

Manderson had previous convictions for ganga possession and consumption but had worked regularly being the main provider for his girlfriend and his child.

A previous employer had described him as reliable and did the work asked for him, but “he needed some guidance on how to relate to other co-workers.”

Although Manderson’s Defence Counsel agued that there were exceptional circumstances in this case, Justice Quin disagreed.

In sentencing Manderson to the statutory minimum sentence of ten years, the judge said he had taken into account Manderson had no previous convictions for violence or possession of weapons or firearms, that he was a young man and primary provider for his girlfriend and child.