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KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 13, CMC – A police officer has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty for the 2022 murder of his 24-year-old girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, whose body has never been found.
Justice Leighton Pusey in handing down the sentence on Friday at the Home Circuit Court, ruled that Police Constable Noel Maitland will have to serve 32 years and four months before he is eligible for parole.
In addition to life sentence, Maitland will serve two years for preventing the lawful burial of a corpse. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Maitland was found guilty of both charges by a seven-member jury on January 22 this year, after deliberating for three hours and 36 minutes following an eight-month-long trial.
His girlfriend was last seen alive at Maitland’s Chelsea Manor apartment in St Andrew on July 12, 2022 and during the trial, Maitland maintained his innocence and in an unsworn statement from the dock, told the court that he loved Donaldson and would never harm her.
His attorney, Christopher Townsend, told the court there were no eyewitnesses to the murder of Donaldson, a social media influencer, entrepreneur, and call centre employee, and that the prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence.
He argued that the evidence did not indicate Maitland acted in any “particular fashion,” and recommended a prison sentence of 17 years and 10 months, noting that his client had already spent three years and eight months in custody, and suggested 10 years before parole eligibility.
But , the Director of Public Prosecutions, (DDP), Claudette Thompson, told the court of the anguish of Donaldson’s family, who have been left to imagine how she died due to the absence of her body.
“What we know for certain is it was a bloody affair, but there is no body. Loved ones are left to imagine how Ms Donaldson died,” she said, citing Maitland’s alleged attempt to conceal evidence, including the body and the couch, as aggravating factors in sentencing.
The DPP recommended a life sentence for Maitland, with a stipulation that he serve 36 years and four months before becoming eligible for parole. She had also proposed a starting point of 30 years for the sentence.
Justice Pusey said that a life sentence was the “appropriate action” for the crime and said that parole eligibility should range from 20 to 35 years”.
Donaldson’s mother, Sophia Lugg, told reporters that while she was satisfied with the life sentence handed down to Maitland, her child’s body remains missing.
“Thanks to the DPP Claudette Thompson and to the whole justice system and Jamaica and those that support me. Thanks very, very, very much. But I still have to deal with the reality. Reality, clicks in now, that yes, he is gone off to where he belongs but what happened to my daughter? What happened to Donna lee? When will I know what really happened?” Lugg told reporters.
“So, I’m a bit sad, I’m bittersweet today because I still want to know what happened to my baby girl,” she added
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