Appeal court rescinds septuagenarian’s life sentence for murder
Published:Saturday | July 12, 2025 | 12:09 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Seventy-nine-year-old Alvin Ricketts, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019 for the 2008 murder of a farmworker on a St Ann coffee estate, is now a free man after the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction and entered an order for acquittal.
Ricketts, who has been battling several chronic medical conditions while in custody at the Spanish Town Remand Centre, was jointly charged with his son, Junior Ricketts, in relation to the fatal stabbing of Desmond ‘Rice’ Dennis on the Barron Hall Coffee Estate.
The father-and-son duo had been found guilty on the basis of joint enterprise, with prosecutors arguing that both men acted in concert during a violent altercation that left Dennis dead. Both were sentenced to life in prison with a stipulation that they serve 22 years in prison before parole.
However, the Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled that the trial had been a nullity, as the jury had returned a majority verdict before the expiration of the statutory timeline.
The director of public prosecutions (DPP), represented by Jeremy Taylor King’s Counsel (KC), conceded the preliminary point raised by the appellant’s attorneys, prompting the court to set aside the conviction without the need to hear further arguments on the merits of the case.
Attorneys John-Mark Reid, John Clarke, and G’Noj McDonald appeared for Alvin Ricketts.
The case stemmed from a confrontation on the estate in 2008 involving Junior Ricketts and a man named ‘Orville’, allegedly over disrespect shown towards Alvin.
The prosecution’s sole eyewitness alleged that Junior Ricketts dragged Orville to the ground and repeatedly struck him in the head with a pen knife. During the fight, a crowd of about 20-30 people converged, chanting, “If a war dem want, then a war a go start.”
Dennis reportedly emerged from the crowd and intervened, striking Junior Ricketts on his shoulder with a bag while saying, “You can’t deal wid di youth suh.”
RETALIATION
Junior Ricketts reportedly retaliated by stabbing Dennis in the chest with a knife, and he stumbled backwards and started bleeding. The injured man remained on the scene for about 45 minutes before he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
However, Alvin Ricketts, in an unsworn statement from the dock, denied striking or harming the victim. He insisted he was only present at the scene and took up a piece of iron for protection after the crowd became hostile and began chanting threatening slogans. He denied any prior agreement with his son and said he had no intention to harm anyone.
No independent witnesses were called by the defence.
The defence’s case was that Alvin Ricketts was a mere bystander who was caught up in the turmoil of the moment and lacked the relevant mens rea (intent to commit a crime) and thus should not be held liable for murder simply because he was present when his son acted.
In the meantime, Junior Ricketts, who was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, has a pending appeal to be heard later this month.
His original application for leave to appeal was denied, and subsequent orders of the court had not been complied with – issues the current defence team took steps to rectify upon assuming conduct of the appeal.
Both men were initially represented at trial by the late Valerie Neita Robertson, KC.