AS THE ISLAND recorded it 48th murder last Friday, the 27th by the gun, the Court of Appeal has warned gunmen and convicted killers to expect long custodial sentences as the courts move to stamp out such illegal activity and protect law-abiding members of the society.
The comments came as the court dismissed an appeal brought by convicted manslayer Edward DaCosta Bailey and affirmed the 20 years he got for shooting a man in a route taxi filled with passengers ten years ago.
Justice of Appeal Kaye Goodridge, who read a summary of the decision, noted there had been an upsurge in the use of illegal firearms in Barbados and “in many cases, loss of life has been the result of this unlawful behaviour”.
“This trend has dismayed and outraged all right-thinking persons in this society and every effort must be made by all concerned to stamp out this form of illegal activity,” she said yesterday. (HLE)
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