The Court of Appeal, in dismissing a case in which the appellant was involved in a mob killing, emphasised that such deaths undermined the Constitution of Jamaica.

The court made the observation when it ordered that Donald Thompson, 37, football entertainment coordinator, of Old Harbour, St Catherine, serve his sentence of life imprisonment, with a specification that he serve 15 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Thompson was convicted by a jury on January 29, 2004, of the murder of Peter Roy Thomas. He was sentenced by Justice Roy Jones.

About 1 p.m. on August 20, 2001, Thomas was set upon by a mob and beaten, stoned and chopped to death. Thomas had been accused of robbing a taxi operator. The deceased's 12-year-old son was the sole eyewitness for the Crown.

Good antecedents

Thompson appealed against the sentence on grounds that it was manifestly excessive.

Lord Anthony Gifford, QC, who represented Thompson on appeal, urged the court, comprising president of the Court of Appeal Justices Seymour Panton, Hazel Harris and Mahadev Dukharan, to take into account Thompson's good antecedents.

Lord Gifford argued that the court should take the view that on occasions such as the incident that took place on August 20, 2001, men who were normally law-abiding succumbed to mass hysteria and committed crimes which they would never have contemplated on their own. He said Thompson was the only individual who was punished for the offence, which was committed by several persons.

Residents from Old Harbour had signed petitions asking the court to be lenient with Thompson.

Lenient sentence

"There is no basis for a lenient sentence in a situation such as this," the court said. The court said further that the signing of petitions by hundreds of persons would not prevent the full force of the law being brought to bear on transgressors.

"The aim is to ensure that we maintain a civilised society in which the rule of law prevails," the court said.

The appeal judges also pointed out that the Constitution of Jamaica provided for the trial of a criminal offence by an independent and impartial court.

"There can be no doubt that Jamaica has such a court. It is, therefore, an undermining of the Constitution for citizens to take on themselves the role of accuser, investigator, adjudicator and executioner c****ined," the court said.