Appeal Court reduces prisoner's sentence
Published:Friday | June 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
A prisoner who wounded a policeman while attempting to escape from a police station lock-up six years ago had his 25-year prison sentence reduced to 17 years because the Court of Appeal took into account the statutory minimum sentence of 15 years for murder.
Raymond Hunter had appealed against his conviction for wounding with intent and had pointed out that the judge did not give adequate direction to the jury on the issue of identification. It was also argued that the sentence was manifestly excessive.
Hunter was convicted on June 27, 2007 in the St Mary Circuit Court for wounding Sergeant Barrington Beckford at the Oracabessa Police Station, St Mary, on May 30, 2005. Hunter was one of two prisoners who attacked two district constables while they were closing a gate in the cell block at the station.
Stabbed cop in chest
Beckford went to the cell block in response to shouts that prisoners were escaping. He held on to Hunter, who was running from the cell block. They wrestled and Hunter used a sharp instrument to stab him in his left breast, damaging his left lung. He spent two months in hospital and, at the time of the trial in 2007, was still undergoing treatment.
Hunter admitted 12 previous convictions after he was convicted.
The Court of Appeal said it was clear from the transcript of the trial proceedings that Justice Martin Gayle was substantially influenced by the combination of his previous criminal record and the seriousness of the injuries the policeman received. The court said the judge was fully entitled to take both those factors into consideration for the purpose of determining the appropriate sentence to be imposed in the circumstances.
It was the court's finding that the sentence was manifestly excessive despite the appellant's dismal record of previous criminal conduct.
The court, in coming to its conclusion that 17 years was an appropriate sentence, took into account the current statutory minimum sentence for the offence of murder which is 15 years under the Offences Against the Person Act, as well as the court's own experience in sentencing for like or comparable offences.