CORRECTION

With regard to Namibian Sun’s headline in yesterday’s newspaper, ‘Swakop butcher wins parole bid’ an error was made in the report as Thomas Florin’s murder sentence falls under the Prisons Act of 2012 which indicates that irrespective of what a trial judge may order at sentencing, a prisoner serving a life term will only be eligible for parole after 25 years. Two appellants failed in the bid, Florin and Stefanus Skyer. The 2012 Act came into force on 1 January 2014 which no doubt led to Florin’s November 2013 urgent application to the High Court seeking release on parole. That failed because at the time he was still subject to the trial judge’s ruling of having to serve a minimum of 15 years before eligibility for parole consideration. Florin can thus apply for parole in 2024.
We regret the error.