AFTER spending a month in prison, a South African war veteran and his Brazilian wife are expected to be sentenced by a Port of Spain magistrate next week after pleading guilty yesterday to possession of arms and ammunition.

Stephen Clarke-Gray, 58, and Renata Clarke-Gray, 33, reappeared before Magistrate Melvin Daniel in the Fourth (B) Court charged with the offences.

They are charged with being in possession of 74 rounds of assorted ammunition, a .44 Remmington firearm, a miniature cannon, 194 musket balls and 940 grammes of gun powder.

Additionally, Stephen Clarke-Gray faces two charges of making a false declaration to Customs officials and the illegal importation of the items into this country on November 16, last year.

They were both arrested on the morning of February 2, aboard a yacht owned by Stephen Clarke-Gray at Scotland Bay, Chaguaramas, by officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB), Marine Interdiction Unit (MIU), and Customs and Excise Division.

Initially, the couple were not called upon to plead to the charges, but when the matter came up yesterday, the prosecution recommended that it be heard summarily.

Defence attorney John Heath said his clients did not have any criminal records either here or abroad and did not waste the court’s time by pleading guilty at the earliest possible occasion.

He explained that the couple were sailing from Brazil to South Africa but decided to stop in this country to visit friends.

Heath said his clients were unaware that the items needed to be declared as they were antiques which were being kept to pass onto their future children.

The attorney said Stephen was a war veteran who, at one point, provided protection for the president of South Africa.

They were remanded into prison custody and will reappear in court on Wednesday.