Witter

Public Defender Earl Witter has criticised a member of the clergy for declaring that he would volunteer to carry out the hangman's job.

Witter, in a release yesterday, said he was horrified by reports that a prominent pastor, Terrence Brown, had offered his services to carry out a punishment that was final and beyond the possibility of correction.

Last week, Brown, a member of the Spanish Town Ministers' Fraternal, bemoaned the surging murder rate in Jamaica, calling for the resumption of hanging.

"I want to further say if the Government does not have anybody to carry out the execution, I will volunteer to do it because something must be done," he said .

"It's something I've thought out seriously, considering also biblical facts," Brown stressed.

'Horrifying' prospect

But Witter said the prospect of an innocent person facing the gallows was "horrifying".

He raised a number of questions about Brown's willingness to administer capital punishment. "If the clergyman were to have his way, would he administer the last rites?" Witter asked.

The public defender continued: "Would he have the stomach for pronouncing benediction and presiding over the interment?"

Witter noted that the pastor's frustration was understandable but should be resisted.

Witter also condemned what he described as criminal acts of savagery against women, children, the aged and the helpless.

More than 1,300 Jamaicans have died violently since the start of the year.