Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 09/Sep 14:24

Top cop to decide on FUL application by month-end

Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher has agreed to decide on a San Fernando pharmacist’s gun licence application by September 20. The firearm user’s licence (FUL) application was put on hold owing to concerns that the applicant's provisional licence, issued in September 2022, was fraudulent. On February 21, Justice Betsy Ann Lambert-Peterson granted him leave to pursue his judicial review claim challenging the commissioner’s delay in deciding on his FUL. In his application, the businessman said he applied for a provisional licence and FUL in 2021. He submitted the relevant documents to the police station in his district after the relevant investigations were completed as part of the application process. The police investigator recommended he should get a FUL and he received his provisional licence. But when he tried to get information on the FUL, he was told the provisional licence “may be fraudulent,” as the signature of a former commissioner appeared to have been forged and approval given at a time when the commissioner no longer held office. The businessman was told an investigation would have to be done on his file. Former police commissioner Gary Griffith held the office between August 2018 and August 2021. DCP McDonald Jacob was then appointed acting commissioner and held office until January 2023. In his application for review, the businessman contended, “The Commissioner of Police has adopted the position that the provisional licence issued was fraudulent and therefore no valid provisional licence has been issued to me to date.” This was in June 2023, but the businessman said he had not received an update since, despite his attorneys sending letters to the commissioner asking for a decision on his licence. “There has been no finding by the TTPS that the provisional license was issued fraudulently. The statements are merely speculative,” he contended. On September 4, the commissioner agreed to decide on the pharmacist’s FUL application by September 20 and he agreed to withdraw his claim. The commissioner also agreed to pay his legal costs of $11,500. He said he applied for his FUL after he being held up at gunpoint at his pharmacy. The pharmacist is represented by attorneys Keron Ramkhalwhan, Shalini Sankar and Annesia Gunness. The post Top cop to decide on FUL application by month-end appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.