Aroon Taylor, also called 'Skatta', 23, a fisherman of Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine, had appealed the sentence, seeking to have it reduced.

He had pleaded guilty in January 2008 to the murder of 33-year-old Presley Fearon, a chef from Old Harbour, St Catherine.

Taylor's appeal was dismissed last week and the court ordered that the sentence run from April 10, 2008.

The facts of the case were that about 10 p.m. on November 15, 2003, Taylor went to a business place at Marlie Mount, St Catherine. The accused, who possessed a firearm, ordered the owner of the business to hand over his licensed firearm and money.

Fearon approached shortly after and began talking to the businessman. Taylor shot him in the head and leg.

Shoot-out

The businessman crept under a bus. During a shoot-out between Taylor and the businessman, Taylor was shot in the leg.

Justice Kay Beckford, in passing sentence, told Taylor that if he had gone to trial and been convicted, she would have issued an order for him to serve 40 years before he was eligible for parole.