Bahamas High Court rules murder convict cannot keep dreadlocks in prison

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – A High Court judge has ruled that a 28-year-old murder convict does not have the right to keep his dreadlocks while serving his 35-year sentence.

Justice Dale Fitzpatrick denied the request by Franco Ferguson after his lawyer asked the court to prevent prison officials from cutting his hair. The prosecutor, Rashied Edgecombe, opposed the application, stating that Ferguson wears dreadlocks for fashion and not for religious reasons.

Ferguson, a former technician at Bahamas Power and Light, was convicted earlier this year for the murder of the new love interest of his daughter’s mother.

Ferguson admitted to fatally stabbing Charles Demeritte on September 11, 2020, but claimed he acted in self-defense. However, six of the eight jurors found that he was not justified in stabbing Demeritte during the altercation.

Edgecombe told jurors that Ferguson had introduced a knife into the fistfight.

The court heard that on September 11, 2020, Ferguson went to the woman’s apartment at her invitation. While there, Charles Demeritte, her new boyfriend, pulled a knife on him.

Ferguson retreated to the bathroom and locked himself inside. As Demeritte tried to get in, Ferguson climbed onto the roof through the window.

He was eventually convinced to come down after Demeritte’s knife was confiscated. However, Demeritte attacked Ferguson again and put him in a headlock. During the struggle, Ferguson stabbed Demeritte in the thigh, severing the femoral artery.

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