Dear Editor,

From time to time, one sees sentences being handed down in the courts which lead you to ask yourself what the judges were thinking. Sometimes these sentences range from extremely harsh, for what appears to be a simple demeanour committed by people who are obviously propelled by nothing but desperation, to a ridiculous slap on the wrist for someone who was driven by nothing but greed. And each time you have to ask yourself what kind of training programmes there are for judges, especially since the powers that be seem to be so opposed to mandatory sentences. The sentence which really “lick mi fi six” so to speak, is the recent one where a taxi driver was sentenced to a mere 12 years after he not only raped a 12-year-old girl, but also buried her alive. It was a spine-chilling case when it happened last year, and it remains so even with the passage of time.

The question that now arises, however, is how on earth could the judge sentence such a monster to only 12 years, which will probably see him coming out of jail much earlier, based on whatever grounds they use to release convicted criminals early? On the other hand, this poor child, even with therapy, has received a “life sentence” at the hands of this monster. The sentence for the man makes absolutely no sense. One can feel nothing but sympathy for the mother who was reported as saying on hearing the sentence, “My head start hurting me right away and I begin to cry when I heard the man was sentenced to only12 years”.

According to the DPP, “…unlike in certain jurisdictions, in Jamaica the Crown cannot appeal against sentences.” But isn’t it time that we should be enacting legislation to give that right of appeal to the prosecution, for far too many times when judges display to the public and all who are involved that they are totally out of sync with the realities of life, the matter should not just die there. Who really cares about the victims of crime in this country?

Joan Williams

Kingston 10

gratestj@gmail.com