Holness promises lengthy prison sentences for convicted murderers
Vanassa McKenzie / Our Today
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, addressing a senior citizens treat on lawns of Jamaica House this past Sunday (January 8), said persons convicted of murder will face up to 30 years or more behind bars.
“Anyone convicted of murder will be spending upwards of 30 years or more and right now, what I detected is the sentiment of the society is hang them,” said Holness.
He noted that criminals operate under the notion that they will get a term of imprisonment and after serving a period of time they are released.
“They don’t understand, especially the criminals who are pulling the trigger, that the penalty for murder is either the death penalty or life imprisonment,” said Holness.
Holness noted that he has his personal views on the death penalty, however, he understands the sentiment of the society is that, for those who take a life, their lives should also be taken away from them.
“There are challenges with the state ending someone’s life, there are different perspectives and moral views on that, however I believe you can effectively take away someone’s life by imprisoning them for a long time. Taking them out of the society because once you allow a murderer to go free that sends a bad signal to all the other people who are prone to use fatal violence-that they can be so angry, so wicked in their thought, that for them the cost to take a life is worth ten or 15 years in prison, because they are of the view that with a good lawyer them can ‘buss’ the case,”
Prime Minister, Andrew Holness
Holness further added that imposing stronger penalties for criminal activities can be a strong deterrent to criminal behaviour.
This comes after the prime minister’s recent announcement that legislative amendments are to be tabled in Parliament to increase the penalty for murder to 30 years and introduce a new Bail At in the next few months.
The coming changes follow the 2022 passage of the new Firearms Act which stipulates that persons convicted of possession of an illegal firearm will face a minimum of 15 years to life in prison.
The legislation to be tabled in Parliament this year are the new Corrections Bill, Fingerprints Bill and an Enhanced Security Bill.
-Send feedback to [email protected]
Comments