A St. Michael resident is confronting serious legal repercussions after being formally charged by Barbadian authorities with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Keimar Orlando Payne, 42, of 1st Avenue, Eckstein Village, was apprehended and charged by the Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Barbados Police Service in relation to an incident that transpired on March 14.
The accused made his initial court appearance before Chief Magistrate Deidre McKenna at the Oistins Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, March 19. During the hearing, Payne was not obligated to enter a plea for the indictable offenses, a standard procedural step for such serious charges within the Barbadian judicial system.
Subsequent to the hearing, the presiding magistrate ordered that Payne be remanded into the custody of the Barbados Prison Service at Dodds. The case has been formally escalated and is scheduled to be heard next in the higher jurisdiction of the District ‘A’ Criminal Court No. 2, with proceedings set to commence on April 16. This transfer indicates the gravity of the charges, which are typically tried in a criminal court rather than a magistrates’ court.