Hayles

WESTERN HANOVER Member of Parliament Ian Hayles has said he will vote for the resumption of capital punishment if parliamentarians are asked to make a conscience vote on the issue.

"I strongly believe that if there is a conscience vote to be held in Parliament regarding the resumption of hanging, I would be voting for such a measure," Hayles, a first-time Member of Parliament said in his contribution to the 2008-2009 Sectoral Debate last week.

Nods of approval

He had hardly finished his statement when nods of approval and thumping of the benches came from members in the sparsely populated House of Representatives on Tuesday.

"I agree with you my boy," Government MP Joseph Hibbert shouted from the other side of the House. Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, Health Minister Rudyard Spencer and Dr Morais Guy all hit the benches to show their support for the resumption of capital punishment.

The houses of Parliament are to debate the issue of capital punishment after which members would make a conscience vote on the issue.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said recently in Parliament that, if that conscience vote says hanging must resume, the hangman should "saddle up".

The last time a convicted felon was executed in Jamaica was in 1988. The country has been unable to carry out another execution due to a lack of political consensus and the slow pace at which the judicial wheels turn.

Cruel and inhumane punishment

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has said that if a convict is on death row for more than five years it amounts to cruel and inhumane punishment and that the sentence must be commuted to life in prison.

Meanwhile, Hayles said the country could no longer afford to be soft on criminals.

"Three strikes legislation is a must," he said.

As member of Parliament Mike Henry has proposed in the past, Hayles said each parish should have its own license plates.

"... when a vehicle from outside a parish enters, it will be easily detected, and the citizens will be able to say from whence it came," said Hayles, the People's National Party (PNP) deputy spokesman on faith-based issues and sports.