Secondary school teacher Nathanial Michael John of Paix Bouche, but residing in Bourne, is now before the court facing several firearms and ammunition charges under the Firearm Act of Dominica.
The arrest resulted from a search warrant executed at the defendant’s home on November 20, 2025.
John appeared before Senior Magistrate Michael Laudat on November 24, 2025, where the charges were read to him. He elected for a summary trial at the Magistrate’s court when the charges were read to him and pleaded “not guilty.”
He is represented by lawyers Wayne Norde and Gina Abraham Thomas. The State’s case is handled by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple who objected to bail for the accused under section 7 (1) (d) (e) of the Bail Act which states “ bail shall be denied where a defendant is charged under any offence under the Firearms Act 2011 punishable by a term of imprisonment of five years or more, the court shall NOT grant bail to that defendant unless it is satisfied that appropriate circumstances exist to justify the granting of bail… and it was NOT in the public’s interest to grant him bail.”
In his rebuttal, Norde stated that his client was “a first-time offender, a teacher for 17 years, and the firearms and ammunition were not used in the commission of any crime but for hunting purposes.
The 14 charges are that John, not being the holder of a firearms license, had in his possession one (1) brown 410 shotgun, one (1) brown .22 rifle, and one (1) brown and black firearm.22 caliber rifle, one (1) chrome and yellow raven arms .25 auto pistol serial number 1275352, one (1) camouflage savage .22/ .410 over and under shot gun combo, 19 rounds of 12 gauge ammunition, 42 rounds .22 ammunition, 52 rounds of .25 ammunition, 2 rounds of 20 gauge ammunition, 6 rounds of .410 ammunitions, seven 12 gauge spent shells without being the holder of a valid ammunition license, four .22 spent shells without being the holder of a valid ammunition license, one spent .32 shell without being the holder of a valid ammunitions license and 39 spent .410 spent shells without being the holder of a valid ammunitions license.
The magistrate will continue to hear arguments on the bail application before handing down his decision.