Murder convict Lindell Powell should be sentenced to life imprisonment – DPP

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, wants murder convict Lindell Powell to be sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole between 20 to 28 years.

Llewellyn made the recommendation this morning as the Court of Appeal began hearing the first case brought by prosecutors since the law was changed last year giving limited right of appeal against acquittals and sentences 

Powell, who is from Westmoreland, was sentenced last December to 12-years' imprisonment on two counts of murder following his guilty plea.

With the sentences running concurrently, Powell would only serve 12 years.

However, Supreme Court Justice Bertram Morrison, who tried the case, ruled that he  would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.  

Powell pleaded guilty to the January 2017 murder of Oral McIntosh and Ida Clarke which took place in Westmoreland.

“These offences were products of great violence and planned procedures on the part of the accused and his confederates and for these sentences, as they have been handed down by the learned sentence judge, to stand, it would not only continue to shock the public conscience but it would have the potential to undermine the public's confidence in the administration of justice,” Llewellyn argued. 

At the time of his murder conviction, Powell had convictions for two firearm offences and was sentenced in August  2019 to 18 months' imprisonment on each count.

The DPP, who argued that the sentence was "unduly lenient”, also said a fixed sentence was inappropriate especially given Powell's previous conviction. 

Court of Appeal justices Frank Williams, Nicole Simmons and Evan Brown are hearing the matter.

Powell is being represented by attorney-at-law Dionne Meyler Barrett. 

The court was adjourned at 1 pm and will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. 

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