Ak­ile Si­mon

A Port-of-Spain Mag­is­trate has or­dered the pros­e­cu­tion to seek ad­vice from the Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions (DPP) re­lat­ing to am­mu­ni­tion charges laid against a Chi­nese-speak­ing busi­ness woman.

Mag­is­trate Ava­son Quin­lan made the or­der mo­ments af­ter she en­tered a "not guilty" plea on be­half of Jun Len Chen at the 4 B court yes­ter­day. On Wednes­day, she had plead­ed guilty to the charge. Len Chen is be­fore Quin­lan charged with hav­ing in her pos­ses­sion three live rounds of nine-mil­lime­tre am­mu­ni­tion. She is al­so the hold­er of a Firearm User's Li­cence which al­lows her to have a nine mil­lime­tre pis­tol and 25 live rounds of am­mu­ni­tion.

"If she (Len Chen) had a Firearm User's Li­cence, how could she be charged with il­le­gal pos­ses­sion of am­mu­ni­tion when the li­cence au­tho­rised her to have a firearm and am­mu­ni­tion?" Quin­lan asked court pros­e­cu­tor Sgt Dil­lon. Quin­lan re­ject­ed Len Chen's pre­vi­ous guilty plea and en­tered a not-guilty plea on her be­half. "Sergeant Dil­lon, you need to seek di­rec­tions from the (act­ing) Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions in this case be­cause I am sure she (Car­la Brown-An­toine) would want to know how some­one who can't read or write Eng­lish was is­sued with a firearm user's li­cence," Quin­lan said.