Crown drops Barnes gun case

(CNS): After almost five months in jail on remand, Andy Barnes was discharged by the Grand Court on Tuesday when the crown said it had decided not to proceed against him in a firearms case. Barnes, whose four-year-old son, Jeremiah, was shot and killed at a West Bay gas station in February last year, was facing charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm with intent to commit assault after an incident outside a liquor store in Bodden Town. The crown had alleged that Barnes had threatened to kill his girlfriend, Dorlisa Ebanks (Jeremiah’s mother), during an altercation at the Odessa Plaza and pulled out a gun. However, Barnes had strenuously denied the allegation and it is understood he had four witnesses, including Ebanks, willing to contradict the crown’s case against him.

At the time of Barnes’ arrest police said there were several witnesses who had seen him produce the gun and threaten Ebanks and other people in the area that evening. However, the prosecution had brought its case on the basis of just one eye witness account, who reportedly withdrew his evidence. The crown chose not to completely close the case against Barnes and requested the court discharge the defendant rather than acquit him, leaving the case on file.

With these Grand Court charges discharged indefinitely, on Tuesday afternoon Barnes was released from custody on bail as a result of other pending issues.

The 31-year-old man is expected to be a witness, along with Ebanks, in the forthcoming trial of Devon Anglin from West Bay, who has been charged with the murder of Barnes’ son.

Barnes was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car with Ebanks and his two sons on the forecourt of Hell Gas station at around 8:30pm on 15 February 2010. According to reports at the time, two masked men approached the car from the rear of the gas station when one of them opened fire. No one else was hit in the shooting, but 4-year-old Jeremiah, who was sitting in the back seat, was reportedly shot in the head.