Dear Editor,
On February 2nd of this year, I wrote an article in this newspaper entitled: "The value of a life", in which I condemned the proposed sentence of 15 to 18 months imprisonment against two youngsters, who fled from police in St. Peters, after threatening someone with a firearm. They were chased by Police and ended up fleeing on foot across the ball field behind Cost-U-Less, at which time they fired at least ten shots at the two Police Officers.
I also condemned the lawyer who, in representing the two suspects, said that their attempt to escape "was not deliberate, but a spontaneous action." Your editorial of December 2 reads: "After all, a well-known man trying to earn his daily bread in an honest manner was killed by unscrupulous robbers, who clearly don't place much value on human life." It took your newspaper exactly 9 months to confirm in its editorial exactly what I wrote on February 2nd.
To top it off, the person suspected of murdering the innocent gas station attendant turns out to be one of the youngsters who, together with his fellow accomplice, fired at least 10 shots at Police. According to the article on the front page of your newspaper of December 2, the suspect "was sentenced earlier this year and was released in March" and, according to the headline caption, "was out of prison for good behaviour".
We started the year 2015 with the authorities on both sides of the island offering persons in possession of illegal fire arms to turn them in during a specified period, at which time no questions would be asked. They warned that anyone caught with illegal fire arms in their possession after the deadline would face stiffer penalties. Well, it looks to me as if the stiffer penalty includes a reward of being released from prison prematurely.
There are countless reports of people who were caught with illegal fire arms and got off with very soft sentences. Now here comes my question about the value of a human life: Why is a sentenced criminal, who fired at least ten shots at two Police officers released from prison prematurely for "good behaviour? The law clearly shows that it placed no value for the lives of the two police officers whose lives were in danger.
The youngster too made it abundantly clear that he shows absolutely no regards for human life. If we doubted him after firing ten shots at two police officers, he convinced us now. Instead of leaving him sit out his full sentence, we allowed him back on the streets to prove his point: He has no regard to human life.
I applaud the witnesses, who provided the police force with the necessary information to apprehend the culprits, and I cannot hold back my praise for the brave men and women of the police force for their swift action.
But, I cannot end this article without asking the following question, which is in no way intended to be construed as racial or bias. If the youngsters had fired at least 10 shots at a judge or a prosecutor, do you think they would be on the streets today? Think about that when trying to establish the value of a human life.
Fernando R. Clark
