One Caribbean nation wants to execute criminals who use weapons, even if they haven't killed anyone. Another is seeking the death penalty for murderous pirates. And a third, St Kitts and Nevis, staged its first hanging in a decade Friday.

A crime wave is fuelling a thirst for executions across the English-speaking Caribbean, prompting concern among human-rights groups which say better policing on the islands would do more to deter criminals.

A bell tolled Friday from inside Her Majesty's Prison on the island of St Kitts to signal the hanging of Charles Elroy Laplace, condemned in 2006 for killing his wife in a knife attack. A small crowd held a vigil outside the brick prison walls in the capital, Basseterre.

Capital punishment

It was the first execution in the region outside Cuba since The Bahamas hanged a convicted killer in 2000.

But more than 90 prisoners are on death row in the region, including eight more in St Kitts.

Prime Minister Denzil Douglas says while his Government takes no comfort in Friday's execution of convicted murderer Charles Laplace, it is hopeful that it will serve as deterrent to criminals.

"Another life taken. It is a human life, but we have to be certain that there is a deterrent among our people in taking another man's life.

"We have a resolve to deal with the issue of crime and violence in this country," the prime minister said.

The hanging of 40-year-old Laplace, who was sentenced to death in March 2006 for the murder two years earlier of his wife Diana, was the first to take place here in a decade.

It comes against the backdrop of over 20 murders this year, which is troubling for this small twin island Federation of 40 000 residents.

As it heads into an election year, the Douglas administration is anxious to bring the escalating crime situation under control.

Following Friday's execution, the prime minister who is also National Security Minister, said his government had clearly demonstrated its willingness to deal with rising crime.

Initiatives to ease convicts' path to the gallows have been welcomed by people around the Caribbean, where polls consistently show strong support for capital punishment.

Antigua and Barbuda has proposed expanding the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty to include any that involve weapons and lead to serious injury or death.

Pirate attack

In Guyana, which is struggling to protect small fishing boats from piracy, the Parliament has approved legislation to execute anybody who commits murder during a pirate attack.

Several countries are exploring changes to their constitutions to work around restrictions imposed by the London-based Privy Council, the highest court of review for many former British colonies. The court says sentences must be commuted to life in prison if the condemned are not executed within five years - a window some consider unreasonably short to resolve appeals.