Gov't accepts DPP's recommendation to review sentencing guidelines for murder

By Clinton McGregor 

 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has confirmed that his administration has accepted the recommendation of the Director of Public Prosecutions to review the sentencing guidelines for murder convictions.

 

DPP Paula Llewellyn recently disclosed that her office will be recommending that the starting point for a sentence of life imprisonment for murder be increased from 30 to 40 years before eligibility for parole.

 

Ms Llewellyn says this was largely influenced by last month's decision by the Court of Appeal to reduce to 20 years the 31-year prison term that convicted killer Quacie Hart was ordered to serve before being eligible for parole.

 

Hart is serving a life sentence for the October 26, 2016 stabbing death of 14-year-old Jamaica College student, Nicholas Francis, during an altercation on a bus.

 

In his New Year's message, Prime Minister Holness said in the next few months, the government will be taking amendments to Parliament to increase the penalty for murder.

 

This will be part of a slew of legislation to be tabled in Parliament in 2023 to combat crime and violence. 

 

The other legislative changes, he said, will include the streamlining of the bail process with the passage of the new Bail Act, as well as the tabling of a new Corrections Bill. A new Fingerprint Bill and the Enhanced Security Measures Bill will also be tabled.  

 

"This year, a clear message will be sent to violence producers that law enforcement and the criminal justice system is not a revolving door," Mr. Holness declared. "Criminals will begin to understand that we are changing the risk-reward dynamic of crime in Jamaica. The probability of being caught is great, the penalty for crimes is high, and the opportunities and loopholes to escape justice are being closed."