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A Slap on The Wrist For Murderers In The Bahamas

Another murderer in The Bahamas has escaped the hangman’s noose and may be back on the streets to kill again in only a few years.

Angelo Poitier, 26, was tried and convicted for the murder of his girlfriend, Shanise Adderley, just one of many violent crimes against women that occur each year in the Bahamas.

A Bahamian judge imposed a life sentence on Poitier, however, unlike in England, judges in The Bahamas do not have the statutory authority to determine the number of years a prisoner must serve before being eligible for parole.  Consequently, prisoners sometimes serve only a few years before being released.

Poitier choked Ms Adderley to death, then dumped her body in a grave at the Veteran’s Cemetary on Infant View Road.

Taking a line from the Privy Council, Bahamian Judge Vera Watkins said that the murder did warrant the death penalty as it did not “fall into the category of those that warrant the most condign punishment of death.”

Only last week, the Privy Council, the highest court of Appeal for The Bahamas, overturned the death sentence of Max Tido using the same excuse.

According to Poitier’s testimony, he choked Adderley after she waved a finger in his face when he questioned her about what she had worn to work. Judge Watkins said Poitier’s reaction showed he had “difficulties” controlling his emotions and the judge agreed with a probation report that he was not really a danger to society.

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