ZIMBABWE : British Airways pilot fined for smuggling ammo

April 21, 2006, 48 minutes and 6 seconds ago.

By Andnetwork .com

A BRITISH Airways pilot arrested on Wednesday at the Harare International Airport was yesterday convicted and fined $6 million for unlawful possession of 45 rounds of live ammunition and attempting to smuggle the same out of the country to the United Kingdom.


Brett Jason Hamlington (35) of Winhanger Lane Churt, Farnhum, Surrey in England was convicted on his plea of guilty to contravening the Firearms Act and the Customs and Excise Act when he appeared before magistrate Faith Mushure.

However, it turned out that the rounds of ammunition, which were detected by an x-ray machine at the Civil Association Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) security checkpoint, were meant for hunting and the Briton had brought with him a firearms certificate from Britain, which was confirmed by prosecutor Relaxon Mandizvidza.

Passing sentence, Mushure said she considered that Hamlington by pleading guilty did not waste the court's time and that the pilot had no intention to use the ammunition for ulterior motives.


"The accused was ill advised of the laws of the country. He did not have any sinister motives," Mushure ruled.


Hamlington was fined $2 million or five years in jail for unlawful possession of the ammunition and $4 million for attempting to smuggle the contraband to the UK.
In his warned and cautioned statement to the police, Hamlington admitted to the charges and said he thought the information regarding his possession of the ammunition would be relayed to Zimbabwe by authorities in the UK.

He added that he wanted to use the bullets for hunting in the country since the safari season was about to open.

"I understand the nature of the caution and I admit to the charge. Initially I thought procedures done in the UK, they would relay the information to my port of entry in Zimbabwe. I have a valid certificate for my ammunition in the UK and I wanted to use the rounds for hunting in Zimbabwe since the hunting season is drawing near," Hamlington said.

The statement and his British firearms certificate were tendered to the court as exhibits. The Briton's lawyer, Bruce Mujeyi of Gollop and Blank, pleaded with the court not to jail his client adding Hamlington was apologetic for the incident.


"The ammunition is for hunting and cannot be used in any nefarious activity. It was purely for hunting purposes. He (Hamlington) is genuinely contrite. He has not wasted the court's time and is a first offender. He is a very deserving candidate to be fined as opposed to a custodial sentence. Accused was not in the know of how we do things in this country," Mujeyi averred.


Mandizvidza proved that on Wednesday Hamlington was at the airport on his way to London and was found in unlawful possession of 45 x 12 Bore live rounds of ammunition in his bag.


He further established that the pilot did not declare anything at the Customs duty point. Hamlington did not have either a Zimbabwean Firearms Certificate or a declaration certificate for exporting the rounds of ammunition.


Source : Daily Mirror

Wonder if he needs help coming up with the $60 US to pay the fine.

Lets see, the way I read it, he can pay $20 or stay in jail for 5 years.

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:
Lets see, the way I read it, he can pay $20 or stay in jail for 5 years.

Decisions, decisions...

I understand the cuisine at the Harrare hilton is to die for!

What is the guesstimate of his fine in US dollar$? a couple hundred bucks?

No - Really - no joke - I would like to be know if anyone has a conversion table for Zim dollars to US dollars.

quote:

Originally posted by Riodot:
What is the guesstimate of his fine in US dollar$? a couple hundred bucks?

No - Really - no joke - I would like to be know if anyone has a conversion table for Zim dollars to US dollars.

Try Ganyana's Zimbabwe Currency Calculator.

6 million Zim Dollar fine


From Ganyana's post:

4-4-2006

this weeks rates zim $ to US$
1) Official 30,000:1
2) Tourism 86,000:1
3) Cash Buying Rate 102,000:1
4) Black Market 210,000:1


Fine is equal to:
1) US$200
2) US$70
3) US$60
4) US$28

Regards,

Terry

Actually I suspect he faces worse when he gets back to the UK.

There is currently an emargo on Britons taking firearms to Zim..No British carrier is allowed to fly firearms into Zim either, regardless of the nationality of the owner...

I am pretty sure the same ban includes ammunition...If thats so, as a BA airline pilot, it would be hard for him to say he doesn't know the rules...I would guess at the very least, his job with BA is on the line...

Regards,

Pete