21 May 2015 :

Anthony Clarke was spared the death sentence by the Court of Appeal for the contract killing of a friend, Aleus Tilus, in September 2011. On 13 March 2015, he was re-sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. The judge said, "There are three principles at work. The first, this case is not the worst of the worst. The second, a sentence of natural life raises constitutional issues. And the third, the tariff of 30 years to 60 years imprisonment in a case of contract killing is appropriate.” Only one person, Kofhe Goodman, remained under sentence of death at the end of the 2014 in the Bahamas, after the Court of Appeal in November quashed the death sentence of Anthony Clarke. On 30 April 2014, the Court of Appeal struck a blow to 2011 legislation that made the murder of a policeman a death eligible sentence, by setting aside the death penalty imposed on Mario Flowers for the murder of Ramos Williams, a policeman who was killed in the line of duty on 29 December 2007. The judges not only ordered that the case be remitted to the Supreme Court for resentencing, but also found that the murder of a police officer is not in itself a sufficient element to classify the act as the “worst of the worst” and attract the death penalty. In October 2014, the Supreme Court resentenced Flowers to 29 years and 2 months.