Fifty-four-year-old Errol Palmer was on Friday sentenced to life in prison in the St Catherine Circuit Court for a brutal machete attack on a man, in which he chopped the victim in the head several times.
Palmer was ordered to serve at least 18 years and two months before becoming eligible for parole.
He pleaded guilty to the fatal chopping of Errol Francis, 50, a farmer of Old Harbour, St Catherine.
During sentencing, Justice Bertram Morrison told Palmer that despite his guilty plea, it was a horrific act and that the aggravated circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors.
The judge said the sentence must reflect the nature and gravity of the offence and noted that Palmer’s community report was unfavourable.
“The report is that the community does not want you there,” Morrison said.
Palmer, who is also known as ‘Jubba’, has spent over five years in jail since the incident.
The facts are that on November 30, 2019, Palmer used a machete to rain chops on Francis.
It was revealed that Francis sustained five chop wounds to the head and seven to the arms, one of which was almost severed.
Palmer then rode away on the injured man’s bicycle.
Francis was assisted to the Spanish Town Hospital, where he was admitted.
He died days later.
Before his death, Francis gave a dying declaration in which he stated, “A Jubba chop mi up and tief mi bicycle.”
His statement was used as part of the Crown’s case against Palmer, who later pleaded guilty.
– Rasbert Turner
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