From 30 strokes to 20
by Curtis WilliamsTHE COURT OF Appeal yesterday reduced from 30 to 20 the number of strokes Benjamin de Freitas would receive with the cat-o’-nine tails. The court upheld a submission from his attorney Martin George that the trial judge exceeded the statutory limit of strokes that a person could receive. The Court of Appeal comprising Justices Sat Sharma, Mustapha Ibrahim and Jean Permanand reduced the sentence but confirmed the conviction. George had applied to the court for leave to withdraw his appeal against the conviction. De Freitas was sentenced in February 1992 to 30 strokes and 29 years in prison by...
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