A routine traffic stop in the midst of a Cup Match motorcade resulted in the discovery of a loaded firearm hidden in a plastic sandwich container, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Jaron Roberts, 31, has denied charges of possessing a firearm, ammunition and violently resisting arrest in connection to an incident on July 31, 2021.

As his trial began yesterday, a jury heard evidence from Pc Stephen Paynter, who said that shortly before 6pm that day he was involved in a police escort for a victory motorcade in the wake of that year’s Somerset’s Cup Match victory.

He told the court that when the motorcade reached Wellington Slip Road in St George’s he remained at the intersection with Mullet Bay Road.

While there, Pc Paynter said he saw a white motorcycle without a licence plate turn into Wellington Slip Road, cutting the corner and causing a van to make a sudden stop to avoid a collision.

He said he immediately began to pursue the motorcycle, which was travelling at a “high rate of speed” and radioed other officers in the motorcade.

“As the rider approached the motorcade he slowed down. I pulled along side him and he came to a stop at Slip Point Lane,” he said.

Pc Paynter said the rider identified himself as Jaron Roberts and, when asked about the licence plate, reached into his bike seat and produced a valid plate for the vehicle.

He also noticed that Mr Roberts was wearing a small, brown Louis Vuitton backpack.

The officer said he wrote a ticket for Mr Roberts for travelling without a licence plate and an expired drivers licence.

“At this point, he was compliant,” Pc Paynter said. “He signed and accepted the tickets but I could tell he was starting to get a bit agitated.”

He told the court at that state another officer at the scene notified him that there was an apprehension warrant for Mr Roberts and that he needed to be arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station.

Pc Paynter said that he then heard Mr Roberts say: “I can’t go to jail.”

He told the court that he began to handcuff the defendant but he started to struggle, attempting to pull away his left hand to avoid being cuffed until other officers stepped in to assist.

Once Mr Roberts was handcuffed, Pc Paynter said another officer told him that he would be searched and asked if he had anything liable for seizure.

“They asked him directly if there was anything in his backpack that we needed to know about,” Pc Paynter said.

At that point, he said the handcuffed defendant began to lash out and tussle with the officers. The struggle continued until another officer used a Taser on Mr Roberts.

The officers began to search the backpack and pulled out a blue and blue ski mask before finding a Tupperware-like plastic sandwich container with a handgun inside.

The item was put back in the backpack immediately and the backpack was taken off the defendant and stashed in Pc Paynter’s police motorcycle.

Pc Paynter told the court that as they waited for other officers, he heard the defendant repeatedly say: “Just shoot me”.

Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury in her opening remarks that the firearm was found to be loaded with three rounds of ammunition, and that the arrest had been recorded on the police officer’s body cameras.

However the court heard that tests for fingerprints and DNA on the container and the firearm came back negative.

The trial continues.

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