Lead Stories

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

A murder convict who applied to the Supreme Court for his immediate release, because he had already served 14 years, had his application turned down after Justice Glen Brown ruled the killer must serve more time for the crime.

"The range for any offender who commits murder in furtherance of robbery is a minimum of 20 years before he is eligible for parole," the judge said.

The prisoner, 33-year-old Elvis Thomas, is being detained at the court's pleasure because he was under the age of 18 when he committed the offence.

Justice Brown, in refusing the application, said Thomas must be held responsible for his action, notwithstanding his age at the time of the offence.

"The punishment must fit the crime," the judge added.

Thomas was convicted on May 28, 2006 of the stabbing murder of Delroy Cranston. Thomas and two friends robbed Cranston at Spur Tree, Manchester. The body was found in bushes on July 5, 1994. Thomas held Cranston while his friends stabbed him.

Thomas later boasted to a woman that he and his friends had committed the murder. Thomas, who lived in Old Harbour, St Catherine, at the time of the offence, gave a caution statement to the police describing the role he played.

Claims of rehabilitation

Attorney-at-law Nancy Anderson, who represented Thomas, argued that he should be released because he had been in prison for more than 14 years and had sufficiently been punished for his crime. She said he had been rehabilitated.

The application was supported by several affidavits, psychiatric and social enquiry reports, along with a report from the superintendent of the prison. Thomas expressed remorse and regret for the murder, saying, "I believe it was a mistake of youth that I will always have to live with."

He is now a Christian and is an assistant teacher of information technology, having passed the Caribbean Examinations Council subject, notching a distinction, while in prison. Those who supervised him described him as hard-working, productive and mannerly. They said his release would not constitute a danger to society.

The death sentence was imposed on Thomas, but the decision was quashed by the Court of Appeal because he was 17 at the time of the offence. The Court of Appeal ordered him detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, but when the Juveniles Act was amended, he was detained at the court's pleasure.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com

Justice Brown said Thomas must be held responsible for his action ... . 'The punishment must fit the crime.'