Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

MAY PEN, Clarendon:

Operator of Blade Security Company, Samuel Tulloch, 45, and his employee Basil Brown, 38, were yesterday granted bail in the sum of $1 million in the May Pen Resident Magistrate's Court, where they appeared on breaches of the Firearms Act.

Brown, a security guard at the Vere Technical High School in Hayes, Clarendon, was arrested on Tuesday when the shotgun he was carrying went off, injuring five students.

He was charged with illegal possession of firearm and shooting with intent on Wednesday when it was also borne out that he did not have a permit to hold or operate a firearm.

Company not registered

The court also learnt yesterday that Tulloch, who operated the company, was taken into custody after it was determined that the company was not registered and that he had in fact given the gun to Mr. Brown after he left work from another security company where he was employed.

In applying for bail, the defence attorney told the court that it was a fact that Brown was not the holder of a permit to operate the gun. He also said, however, that his client had never had a brush with the law and the shooting was an accident.

In relation to Tulloch, he told the court that the security company operator was a former district constable who was in the process of having his company registered and that he had left the shotgun with Brown so he could check on the theft of a cellphone at the school.

RM Glen Brown granted bail on condition that both men surrendered their travel documents to the police and return to court on December 18, when the case will again be mentioned.