UK Case on Death Penalties Can Be Commuted Through Global Precedent

Two Trinidadian prisoners in the United Kingdom accused of killing three Britons in the Port Spain may not be indicted with the death penalty due to their intellectual levels.

According to the World Health Organisation's guideline that classifies any person with an IQ below 70 as "intellectually disabled", could be considered a case of insanity rather than criminal.

Lester Pitman is convicted of killing BBC Lynette Lithgow 51, Maggie Lee 83 and brother-in-law 

John Cropper 59 in their bathroom from their bungalow property.

The three were found with their hands tied behind their backs. Their throats were slit.

Authorities believe Pitman was to rob the house in 2004 but was forced to murder the three in 2004. 

He was sentenced with death penalty in Trinidad, his original country. In 2013, his case was commuted to 40 years in jail.

A court of appeal hearing declared Pitman to be sentenced properly with the death penalty.

Experts measured Pitman's IQ to be initially at 52 and then at 67, which can use the global precedent on IQs to avoid the death penalty.

Another prisoner, Neil Hernandez, had killed Christine Henry and her six-year old son Philip in Toco in Trinidad in May 2000 with a cutlass used for coconut harvesting. He was to receive the death penalty but had his sentenced commuted to 25 years due to his long wait for the death penalty. 

Experts measured his IQ at 57, which may also exempt him from the death penalty permanently.