Gun dealer charged for shooting his son offered bail

CMC

Saturday, April 24, 2010

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – A 39-year-old gun dealer has returned to Miami for medical treatment a few hours after he was released on US$50,000 bail on a charge of unlawfully killing his son earlier this month.

Johan Bjorn Bjerkhamn, who had earlier in the day arrived here from Miami, gave police a statement on the circumstances surrounding his son’s death on April 11.

Police said that 11-year-old Luke Bjerkhamn died at his father's residence after receiving a gunshot wound to the chest.

Media reports indicate that his father was cleaning a gun when the incident occurred.

The accused was not required to plead to the indictable charge, when he appeared before Magistrate Ian Weekes on Friday afternoon. There was no objection to bail and he was allowed to return to Miami, where he is undergoing medical treatment for the gunshot injury to his hand.

However, Magistrate Weekes ordered him to surrender his travel documents on his return in four weeks time. In addition, the magistrate said that the court must be informed of any subsequent travel and Bjerkhamn must also report to the police twice a week.

The case was adjourned until May 27.