A juvenile who was convicted three times for murder before he was 18 years old is seeking to have his sentence of life imprisonment set aside.

The convict, 25-year-old Damion Thomas, also called 'Cuttist', has filed an appeal, claiming that the judge made an error because he should have been detained at the court's pleasure.

Thomas was first convicted on April 14, 1997 and ordered detained at the governor general's pleasure. He was convicted of the second murder on February 11, 2000.

When he was resentenced in 2006 to life imprisonment, the judge ordered that he should serve 25 years before he was eligible for parole.

Thomas was resentenced under the Child Care and Protection Act for the murder of Donovan Brown which was committed on February 4, 1998 when Thomas was 17 years old.

On December 3, 2002, he was sentenced to hang for Brown's murder because at the time he had two previous convictions for murder.

Attorney-at-law Nancy Anderson, representing Thomas, submitted in the Court of Appeal yesterday that when Thomas was resentenced he should have been ordered detained at the court's pleasure.

She argued that Section 8 of the Offences against the Person Act states that the judge in determining sentence must have regard to the time of the commission of the offence and the date of conviction.

unlawful sentence

Anderson submitted that the sentence imposed on Thomas was unlawful and was in violation of Section 20 of the Constitution.

The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision until November 16.

A person who is detained at the court's pleasure must have his case reviewed by a judge five years after the detention order.

The United Kingdom Privy Council ruled in 2003 that it was unconstitutional to detain persons at the governor general's pleasure and they should instead be detained at the court's pleasure.