HELL NO! not for gang members nor any other criminal!

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Subject: Prohibited from possessing firearms by three different judges in the pastDate: Apr 26, 2008 10:59 AMPUBLICATION:  The Hamilton Spectator DATE:  2008.04.26 EDITION:  Final SECTION:  Local PAGE:  A6 BYLINE:  Barbara Brown

-Gunman gets 13-year sentence————————————-

A reputed Cripps gang member who opened fire in a crowded dance hall was sentencedyesterday to 13 years in prison for the attempted murder of one man and the woundingof an innocent bystander. Tyson Truelove, 22, was convicted on July 13 of shooting Gregory Palmer, a 29-year-oldJamaican national, and wounding Sherry Redhead, 36, who was struck in the leg bya stray bullet inside the Ol’ Continental nightclub on Gertrude Street on Dec.17, 2003. Superior Court Justice Ray Harris also sentenced Truelove for seven weapons offencesinvolving a restricted 9-mm firearm loaded with hollow-point bullets. “You chose to carry a loaded gun into a place where friends meet and you firedthat gun into a crowded dance hall at a person that you decided should be killed,”said Harris. The judge described how Truelove strode across the room with “amazing alacrity,”the gun in his outstretched hand, and shot the intended victim at close range. The convicted man has served 28 months in jail awaiting sentencing, but Harris refused to grant him the usual double credit for pretrial custody. The judge also ordered Truelove to serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible to apply for parole. Truelove had been prohibited from possessing firearms by three different judges in the past and had two convictions for possessing restricted weapons on his record,along with an assault and uttering a death threat. “Your adult life has been short but it has been a trifecta of guns, drugs andviolence,” said Harris. The two-week trial was fraught with unco-operative witnesses and Harris found thatsome of them were intimidated by Truelove and fearful of reprisals from his friendson the street. Palmer, who was in Canada illegally and gave police a false name, was found severelywounded by the CP rail tracks off Gage Avenue North. He had been shot with hollow-pointbullets, which mushroomed on contact and penetrated through his abdomen. The victim recovered and was deported back to Jamaica. “It wasn’t enough for you to frighten Mr. Palmer,” the judge said.”You had to shoot him in the club and then shoot him again as he ran out thedoor and then you went after him to finish him off.” The gun battle spilled out into the parking lot where Truelove was shot three timesin the back and once in the leg by a second, unidentified person firing a .45-calibrehandgun. The theory of the prosecution is that Truelove was shot from behind while chasingthe seriously wounded Palmer through the parking lot and out onto nearby Gage AvenueNorth.

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