Criminals’ bail rights ‘should be trampled’

National Security Minister Stuart Young hopes to bring three pieces of legislation to Parliament to aid in the fight against crime and illegal firearms, among them banning bail for people found with illegal guns for 120 days. He said during that 120-day period the police would work on the prosecution of the individuals found with illegal firearms.

Young outlined the three pieces of legislation he hoped to take to Parliament “within the shortest possible time frame” at a press conference at the ministry, Temple Court, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.

The second piece of legislation is a restructuring of the sentencing system for people found guilty of possession of illegal guns. The restructured system will be a three-strike tiered sentencing and penalty system for repeat firearm offenders with increased sentences, fines and penalties. The third is the revocation of the bail of anyone found to be engaged in criminal activity while out on bail.

Young said he called the press conference to tell citizens of some initiatives he wanted to push to make TT “a safer and more secure TT for everyone.

“Undoubtedly, every law-abiding and civic-minded citizen of TT will know and will accept that one of the grave difficulties facing us in national security in being able to secure our law-abiding citizens on a daily basis is the scourge of illegal firearms,” he said.

He added almost every serious crime and, in particular, every violent crime and “unfortunately, the vast majority of murders being committed in TT” were being committed with illegal guns.

Young said the problem had been looked at and studied for a long time and every citizen knew, including himself, that every criminal out there wanted an illegal gun, if he or she did not already have one. Over the last five years, he said, people have been suffering at the “hands of the criminal element who unfortunately have had access to illegal firearms.”

Young said TT’s borders were too porous for a period of time and “there seemed to have been a large availability and in-pouring of illegal firearms.

“Our law enforcement officers along with our intelligence agency have been working on trying to eradicate and pull back on these illegal firearms, as we have been shutting down our borders over the last few months.”

Young thanked the police and the Defence Force, in particular the Coast Guard, for the “great work” done on the borders.

He said there were already significant illegal guns in TT and when the PNM administration asked for an estimate of the number, the answer was 9,000, and that was not necessarily an accurate statistic.

In discussion with the Prime Minister, the Government gave him the go-ahead and he asked Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to do the necessary drafting of the legislation, he said, adding that the initiatives were aimed at taking “the fight directly at the heart of these illegal firearms and take the fight directly at the criminal element.”

He said Government had taken notice of “little criminals who call themselves shooters” and “think that because they hold an illegal handgun they can terrorise our citizens.” In 2011, Young said, the then UNC-led government introduced, along with anti-gang legislation, bail amendments that took away a person’s right to bail when held with illegal firearms.

He said the UNC indicated there was a sunset clause (a time limit) on that legislation, and when the PNM Government came in, it tried to renew the legislation, but the Opposition rejected it.

He added the anti-gang law was separated from the bail amendments and it was also rejected.

“It was only when you, the population – rightly so – began to put necessary pressure on the Parliamentarians that the Opposition caved in. They capitulated because you, the population, indicated in the clearest possible terms that you were aware there was a problem with gangs and that TTPS needed to be given the tool of anti-gang legislation to take the fight to these minority persons in our society.”

Referring to it as the anti-bail legislation, Young said there was a High Court decision that first declared this law unconstitutional, even though it had been passed with a special majority, but the Court of Appeal in the last few weeks ruled it is not unconstitutional once passed with a special majority.

He said there was not any “law-abiding citizen” who would argue any citizen held with an illegal firearm should be granted bail. Young said they were going to ask for the Opposition support for the legislation, a day after Opposition support was given for the passage of the Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Bill 2019.

Young said the criminals’ right to bail should be trampled on and should be taken away from them. He added he was working closely with Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and his executive, who asked for the legislation to be brought back to the Parliament, and TT was facing a phenomenon of repeat offenders with illegal guns.

“We all know...that there are criminal elements out there in a minority who think because they have piece of metal in their hand they can shoot projectiles, bullets, at us, they can terrorise us. Why should they have the normal rights that the rest of us have with respect to access to bail?”