Man who killed JC student to serve reduced time before parole eligibility

The Court of Appeal this morning reduced to 20 years the 31-year prison term that Quacie Hart was ordered to serve before being considered for parole. 

Quacie Hart was sentenced in 2019 for the stabbing death of 14-year-old Jamaica College (JC) student, Nicholas Francis, during an altercation on a bus on October 26, 2016. 

The killer had pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison. 

The sentencing judge Lorna Shelly Williams in determining the number of years that Hart was to spend in prison before parole had started at 40 years, but ended up giving Hart 31 years after discounting the time for the guilty plea and time spent on remand. 

Hart subsequently appealed his sentence, claiming it was manifestly excessive. 

His lawyer Patrick Peterkin argued yesterday that the judge had not factored in his client's age (21) at the time of the sentence or his remorse and had not properly applied the sentencing principles, which resulted in the sentence being excessive. 

Acting Court of Appeal President Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop in handing down the sentence this morning said that the judge had failed to apply the right methodology and had also applied the wrong starting point for the offence. 

The judge said a pre-parole sentence, in this case, should have fallen between 15 and 25 and further that the 40-year range was erroneous and excessive. 

The court found that 23 years was a reasonable pre-parole sentence, but credited him for the three years he had already served in prison before his sentence. 

Justice McDonald Bishop pointed out that based on the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act, when a person pleads guilty and the sentence is life, it should start at 30 years. 

Therefore, she said, “the whole issue of starting point would not have applied to the sentence” and that the judge had applied the sentencing principles to determine the parole period instead of the life sentence period. 

But, she added, “Having given him life, parole cannot exceed life; it must be a period before the sentence expires.” 

Government prosecutors led evidence that on the day of the incident, Francis and Hart were seated beside each other on the minibus, which was heading towards Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, when the teenager blurted out, “Talk to him nuh!” 

It was later observed that Hart was holding on to Francis' wristwatch, and the teen was trying to brush him off. 

A fistfight reportedly broke out, but the two were quickly separated by one of two conductors, who gave Francis a seat at the rear of the minibus. 

Prosecutors say that when the vehicle got to another bus stop, located metres from JC, Hart took Francis' knapsack and tossed it out the door. 

It was reported that another JC student, who was about to board the bus, picked up the bag. 

However, prosecutors say Hart stopped him, asking, “How you so nuff? A fi yuh bag?” 

When another passenger intervened and took up the bag, Hart again grabbed the knapsack and threw it to the ground. 

This triggered a second fistfight. 

Francis was stabbed on the hand and in the chest as the conductor tried to separate them. 

- Tanesha Mundle

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.