EIGHT?YEARS?ON, his rash action as an impetuous teenager still causes Kemar Nurse much regret.
And while freedom from his prison cell is circumstance for rejoicing, it is muted.
“I regret that someone lost their life. It is my one major regret and I cannot change the hands of time,” a contrite Nurse told the SATURDAY?SUN yesterday from his Sherbourne, St John home, 24 hours after his release from HMP Dodds.
He was sprung from prison early after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ordered his immediate release on Thursday following an appeal by his attorney, Queen’s Counsel Ralph Thorne.
He was one of two youngsters, the other being Jamaican Jeffrey Ray Burton, who were convicted in the October 6, 2006 slaying of former Graydon Sealy schoolboy Averell Wright in a highly publicised fight aboard a Transport Board bus at Oistins, Christ Church.
“I want to give my condolences to his family. I apologise for the incident because you cannot give life,” the 24-year-old Nurse said.
The fight had its genesis in an incident on September 29 when Stephen McAllister, 14, of Graydon Sealy, lost his cellphone on the bus, leading to disagreement between Burton and Wright, 16.
On that fateful day, Burton and Wright fought, falling through the bus door onto the pavement before Nurse joined in. Wright, who was stabbed, eventually died after the driver closed the door when he ran towards the bus.
On March 8, 2010, the young men pleaded guilty to manslaughter. On January 20, 2011, Burton, who made the fatal plunge into Wright’s chest with a knife, received the higher sentence of seven years, while Nurse got five.
However, both men appealed the sentence as excessive, claiming that it was not in keeping with the CCJ’s landmark ruling in the Romeo Hall case that the sentencing officer must discount remand time. The Court of Appeal rejected the challenge, stating that at the time of sentencing the Hall case had not been decided and it could not be applied retroactively.
Thorne, along with Burton’s lawyer Queen’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, took the fight to the CCJ which upheld the appeal and said that the Court of Appeal had the authority to apply the ruling in the Romeo Hall case to the Nurse and Burton’s circumstances.
In 2006 Nurse was remanded until January 2009 when he was granted bail until 2011 when he began his prison term.
Taking into account the 27 months on remand, the CCJ ordered the immediate release of Nurse as having served his time while reserving its decision on Burton.
“I can’t find the right words to express my reaction. There were tears of joy,” Nurse said of his arrival home.
Along with the taste of freedom he also ate his mother’s chicken.
While in prison Nurse obtained certificates in CXC?English language and principles of business, but the St John lad who admits to loving sports, said he would be trying to settle into home life before deciding on what career to undertake.
• antoinetteconnell @nationnews.com
