PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The United Kingdom-based Privy Council is expected to hand down a ruling on whether a prisoner who may be mentally ill should remain on death row after he was convicted of killing another inmate.

The hearing in London, is being held this week, amid concern over the murder rate in the twin-island republic — a situation that has led to calls for the enforcement of the death penalty.

Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Barbados, are the only two countries in the region with mandatory death penalties for murder.

The case to be heard by the five judges this week stems from the conviction of Jay Chandler, 40, who was sentenced to death in 2011.

He had been convicted after he used a home-made knife and stabbed another prisoner, Kern Phillip, in October 2004.

The two men were said to have quarrelled during visiting hours at the Remand Yard prison in Arouca, Trinidad.

Chandler was seen chasing Phillip across the compound. The victim died in the prison’s infirmary from his injuries.

A post-mortem examination showed that Phillip’s heart had been punctured. however, Chandler denied having the weapon or attacking Phillip.

Lawyers for Chandler will present to the UK judges a report from a forensic psychologist who has diagnosed their client as suffering from episodes of psychosis .

The appeal will be heard by Lords Kerr, Sumption, Reed, Carnwath and Lloyd-Jones.

Trinidad and Tobago is one of more than 30 overseas territories, dependencies and Commonwealth states that rely on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) as their ultimate court of appeal, sending cases from around the world to hearings before justices of the UK’s supreme court.