The Court of Appeal won't hear former Senator John Bostwick's appeal against a conviction for possession of ammunition until next year. At a hearing before the appellate tribunal yesterday, Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin and Bostwick's lawyer, Wayne Munroe, QC, both agreed that they had just received portions of the transcript.

The matter was adjourned from October to yesterday because the transcripts were not ready. The appeal is now set for February 1. Bostwick paid a $15,000 fine last January to avoid spending 15 months in prison. Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes convicted Bostwick after dismissing his defence as "unconvincing and unbelievable".

He was arrested at the Grand Bahama International Airport after a security screener found 10 bullets in his backpack on May 17, 2014.

Throughout his trial, Bostwick claimed that he was framed by unidentified people who sought to end his political ambitions. Bostwick suggested that many people, including staff at the Grand Lucayan Hotel and someone in the airport, "had the means and opportunity to put the items in the bag".

Bostwick's lawyers, Henry Bostwick, QC, Elliot Lockhart, QC, and Lisa Bostwick-Dean, argued that the offense was unproven, due to the lack of fingerprints and a lack of serial numbers of the bullets to prove the bullets entered as exhibits at the trial were the same as the ones seized at the airport.

Forbes reasoned it would have been impractical to lift prints from the bullets, given their size and surface. He said, "The singular issue is whether the defendant had knowledge, custody and control."

Forbes noted that Bostwick had initially suggested that the bullets were planted in his bag, which he claimed was left in the trunk of his rental car, when it was valet parked.

However,once confronted with surveillance footage that showed Bostwick taking the bag into the hotel, Bostwick said he took the bag into the room and left it unattended.

According to Bostwick, his girlfriend and her sister met two "unsupervised maids" in the room when they returned.

Bostwick also said the bag was left unattended when he left the key in the ignition when he went to take a tour of his friend, Christopher Wells', home. To this, Forbes said, "Potentially all of Grand Bahama had the opportunity to tamper with the bag."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian