Wednesday, November 25 2009

An Australian boat captain, who was charged with possession of two high-powered rifles and 2,240 rounds of ammunition, was released from custody yesterday on $140,000 bail with a surety by a Port-of-Spain magistrate.

Australian national Michael Norman, was once again brought before Magistrate Avason Quinlan in the 4B Court. A ruling on the case, in which Norman has been slapped with four criminal charges, was expected to be delivered by the magistrate after hearing arguments from the State and the defence counsel the previous day.

However, when the matter was re-called, Quinlan explained there were issues raised on which the court still needed some clarity, and because of this she was willing to grant the accused bail in the interim.

“I still have some serious concerns. According to the charges, the accused is alleged to have subscribed false declarations about his cargo. All the other charges stem from this one charge. But is this form a statutory form? So in this case, what is the situation where the accused has made a declaration, which is in part written and in part oral?” Quinlan questioned.

The matter is scheduled to resume on November 30.