Crime Correspondent: Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago reintroduce hanging

Patrick Manning said the government would reintroduce hanging for those convicted of murder and treason. Trinidad and Tobago’s last execution was in 1999 when nine men were hanged for murder. Of the 78 prisoners on death row, 15 have exhausted their appeal rights and can be executed. However, the government has commuted the death sentences of a number of prisoners in response to a 1994 Privy Council decision that set a five-year limit for execution from the time sentence was imposed. In the case of Pratt & Morgan v. Jamaica, the Privy Council also ruled that the mandatory application of the death penalty was an abuse of law. However, an appeal by the governments of Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago led the Privy Council to reverse itself and permit mandatory death sentences. Bishop Bess said the Church in the West Indies had not taken a formal position on the death penalty. The Church’s debates focused on fighting crime, rather than debating the morality of capital punishment, he told a Port of Spain newspaper. Bishop Bess noted the Church’s formularies as well as Scripture gave a warrant for the state to execute criminals, he said, noting “I would have to argue that what I see in the New Testament suggests capital punishment is” permissible. “When Jesus hung on his cross, there were two people executed with him, one on each side. And one of them realised his erring ways and asked for forgiveness. He was pardoned by Jesus of the crimes he had done but he was not spared the penalty,” he said.

Trinidad and Tobago reintroduce hanging

Patrick Manning said the government would reintroduce hanging for those convicted of murder and treason. Trinidad and Tobago’s last executio...

Dexter Thomas ,Owen Alfred, Oswin "Ozzy" Moore

Oswin Moore<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3STLLcI8v2C-oZ5_cgyURPnErlibC1yWo-R5ufznt7KjE76cPRtk8_FEF-9rre2TWeY5u-0UNXwmE-rDrEun-PZmu5gnOy782Pz4Q0RwghSXy6Ipn1lu7Yg3DL2ZHQsSfOxYbprJdmU/s1600-h/n20.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158230066321879570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3STLLcI8v2C-oZ5_cgyURPnErlibC1yWo-R5ufznt7KjE76cPRtk8_FEF-9rre2TWeY5u-0UNXwmE-rDrEun-PZmu5gnOy782Pz4Q0RwghSXy6Ipn1lu7Yg3DL2ZHQsSfOxYbprJdmU/s320/n20.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> THREE men wanted by both local and United Kingdom authorities for cocaine smuggling appeared before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls yesterday. The three Tobago nationals, Owen Alfred, Oswin "Ozzy" Moore and Dexter Thomas are all charged with conspiracy to transport cocaine into the United Kingdom. The men if found guilty can serve a maximum sentence of life imprisoned in Trinidad and Tobago and up to 22 years in the United Kingdom. The trio who arrested on provisional extradition warrants were not granted bail. The men's lawyers argued against it stating that they have no pending matters and that they were not a flight risk. The matter was adjourned to tomorrow.

Dexter Thomas ,Owen Alfred, Oswin "Ozzy" Moore

Oswin Moore THREE men wanted by both local and United Kingdom authorities for coc...