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Gun involved in alleged attempted murder has also been used to kill two others, jury hears

The same firearm used to shoot Randolph Lightbourne was used to murder two other men according to firearms experts.Both Dekimo Martin, 24, and 29-year-old Colford Ferguson were gunned down in Sandys, using the same firearm that wounded Mr Lightbourne, 44, on July 23 last year.Marico Bassett, 20, is on trial in Supreme Court for the attempted murder of Mr Lightbourne, for using a firearm to commit an indictable offence and for the possession of two bullets.He denies all charges.Mr Lightbourne was leaving Charing Cross Tavern, on Cambridge Road, in Sandys, when a man wearing a helmet with a tinted visor opened fire, shooting him seven times. Six of the bullets entered his buttocks and lower abdomen; the last hit his wrist.A jury heard yesterday that one bullet pierced his small intestine, liver and urinary bladder.Mr Lightbourne last week told the jury that he recognised Mr Bassett as his attacker. He said he knew him through his work with the organisation CARTEL, which is dedicated to helping young people stay away from the gang lifestyle.He described Mr Bassett, who he regularly saw at Charing Cross Tavern, as being good friends with his son.Yesterday gang expert Sgt Alexander Rollin said he believed Mr Bassett was associated with the Somerset-based gang Money Over Bitches (MOB).He explained that to his understanding, gang members could be defined either as “shot callers”, those who determine what course the gang should take if someone has disrespected the gang, or “soldiers”, those who carry out the instructions.“I would put the defendant as the soldier category,” Sgt Rollins said.He also said it was not unusual for gang members to share a firearm if they did not have a large number of guns.Under cross-examination by Mr Bassett’s lawyer Marc Daniels, Sgt Rollins said he could not confirm if the defendant had been initiated in the gang. He said he had seen Mr Bassett with known gang members but said he could not give details about how he received his information.Detective Constable Leroy Mathurin said overseas tests linked the bullets found at the crime scene and in Mr Lightbourne’s body to the same gun connected to several other firearms cases which occurred in the West End, including two fatal shootings.Mr Martin was shot outside his Peacock Crescent home on May 28 last year. Mr Ferguson was shot while doing construction work at a building on the corner of East Shore Road and Mangrove Bay Road on February 4.The defendant’s mother Sharon Bassett described an early morning raid on her home as a “horror”.“We had to back down the hall and get handcuffed and went in the paddy wagon while they searched our home,” she said. “I wouldn’t have wished that upon anyone.”She said on the day of the shooting, she sat down with her son and discussed the incident. Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney questioned why she did not mention the conversation in her statement to police.She responded that she was never asked about her son, and that the police were only concerned about a motorcycle which she said the family had recently sold.Mr Mahoney alleged that Mrs Bassett was lying to protect her son.She responded: “I’m not lying. I have no reason to.”Both the defence and the Crown are expected to make their final statements this morning. The jury is expected to be asked to consider a verdict in the case tomorrow.Useful website: www.bps.bm