A High Court judge has reiterated a call for the creation of a parole board, while resentencing manslayer Nicholas Leroy Ronald Scantlebury to life in jail, with a tariff of 33 years.
In 1996, Scantlebury was convicted of unlawfully killing Maureen Marshall on June 22, 1994, and was jailed for life — a sentence that was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
However, due to the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) ruling that the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment was unconstitutional and that courts must impose a definite term, he and several other inmates were to be resentenced.
Currently, the now 63-year-old convicted killer has spent almost 31 years behind bars.
During the resentencing hearing last Friday in the No. 5A Supreme Court, Justice Christopher Birch told him, “In all, you have served . . . a total of 11 294 days. Your earliest time of release will be when you have served 33 years, or a further 757 days. I should note here that there is presently no Parole Board to assess your time for release, although the CCJ and the Court of Appeal require trial judges to sentence as if one exists. I can only reiterate my urging to the State to create such a board at the earliest possible juncture, which will have the effect of rendering hearings such as this unnecessary in future.”
Justice Birch told Scantlebury during his reappearance last Friday, that there had been a “meticulous degree of planning” in carrying out the offence.
“The evidence in the case indicates that you had reconnoitred the home of the deceased and determined that there was something in the house worth stealing. Secondly, you equipped yourself with the means of sophisticated entry onto the premises, and you were in possession of a firearm, which, unlike the tools of burglary, only has one purpose, that is to inflict death or serious injury on the person at whom it was aimed. Even if the Court was to accept that you did so merely with the intent to frighten someone, the fact remains that use of a firearm retains a reasonable expectation that if used, it would kill or injure someone,” Justice Birch said, adding that there were no mitigating factors.
The judicial officer continued. “It is the view of the court that this case is so grave, and the aggravating factors so weighty, that the starting point of a whole life sentence is appropriate,” with a 35-year minimum term.
Two years were deducted due to his remorse and positive prison reports.
Defence attorney Sally Commissiong represented Scantlebury, while State Counsel Eleazar Williams appeared for the State.
The post High Court judge resentences manslayer, calls for parole board appeared first on Barbados Today.
