Chuck talks tough

ASt Catherine woman who allegedly failed to inform the police that her son may have killed a man in the parish has been charged with accessory after the fact and misprision of a felony.

Police said that the woman, Asharie Grant, a shop owner from Glengoffe, fled the area with her 20-year-old son Ronaldo Marriott, and his alleged accomplice Aundre Bryan following the murder of Bryan Blackwood on March 12.

The 50-year-old Blackwood, otherwise called ‘Bigga,’ a sales representative of Mount Concord

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said the Andrew Holness-led government intends to send the strongest signal to potential killers that their “hideous and dastard acts will be punished severely”.

Chuck, in outlining the reasons for legislating mandatory minimum sentences for crimes such as murder and gun-related offences, said violence has damaged the Jamaican society, and they continue to cause pain and suffering to far too many citizens.

“A court sentence must appropriately express the anger, revulsion and the sentiments of the society,” the minister said.

He said when a murder is committed, the victim’s families feel strongly that the killer should be imprisoned for a long time.

“If the truth is to be told, many want the death penalty to be imposed,” Chuck said, while noting that the death penalty, which has not been carried out since 1988, is still an available sentence for capital murder.

“The proposed alternative sentence for capital murder is life imprisonment with a minimum mandatory period of 50 years imprisonment before consideration for parole,” Chuck said.

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