PM warns of tougher sanctions for those sheltering criminals
Published:Friday | November 10, 2023 | 12:10 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness is vowing that harsher penalties are on the horizon for perpetrators of violent crimes and those who shelter them or otherwise remain silent about their misdeeds.
Holness made the pledge on Thursday during a visit to the Chetwood Primary School in Montego Bay, St James, following Monday night’s shooting deaths of seven-year-old Justin Perry and nine-year-old Nahcoliva Smith, both students of the institution, in Salt Spring in the parish.
The boys were killed, along with 26-year-old Tevin Hayle, when a gunman opened fire at a taxicab they were travelling in along the Flower Hill main road.
“There is an ecosystem of crime which has to be tackled. Unfortunately, in some ways, we are all part of the ecosystem of crime, and the truth is that someone must have known what was about to unfold. And, as I stand here and speak to you, someone knows where the criminal terrorist is,” said Holness.
“You are equally guilty for having this knowledge and not sharing it with the authorities. In our system, the people who commit the crime must be held accountable, but giving succour and protection and being an accessory to the crime keeps the ecosystem of protection around the criminal,” Holness added. “We are going to be targeting the criminal, definitely, but there is a common-law principle in our jurisprudence called misprison of a felony, someone who knows a crime was committed.”
Responding to concerns as to whether the death penalty could be invoked to punish criminals, Holness admitted that he would not object to its use if legal grounds for it could be found.
“I was totally against the death penalty because the challenge with the death penalty is that, when the State uses violence and takes a life, it must be sure of what it is doing. The State must have a monopoly on the use of violence. In other words, the State must be the only authority that takes a life, but, if it takes life, there must be processes that give you more than 90 per cent certainty, and, if life is taken by the State, it must be thoroughly reviewed,” said Holness.
“If we were able to use the death penalty, I would not object, [but] I have not seen where we can legally use it. I think the best thing is to [implement] stiffer penalties and to increase our capacity and capabilities to detect, intercept, interdict, and bring it to the court. I think, if we get all of these correct, then you would have increased the deterrent effect,” Holness added.
Following the triple murder on Monday, a state of public emergency was imposed on St James on Wednesday morning.