THE COURT of Appeal has set aside the death sentences of 14 men who were convicted before the 1992 amendment to the Offences Against the Person Act.

They were instead sentenced to life imprisonment after the offences were classified as non-capital murder. The judge who reviewed their cases this month recommended they should serve prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 years before they are eligible for parole. All of the prisoners were convicted in the 1980s, so some were released immediately while others will be released later this year and others between next year and 2003.

The amendment to the Offences Against the Person Act makes provision for murder to be placed in two categories ­ capital and non-capital murder.

Capital murder attracts the death penalty. The sentence for non-capital murder is life imprisonment, but the judge can recommend how many years the prisoner should serve before he is eligible for parole. Prior to the amendment, all prisoners convicted of murder were sentenced to hang.

The men whose cases were classified are Clement Francis, who was convicted on January 26, 1981 of the murder of Artwell Allen, of Eighth Street, Trench Town. Allen was shot and killed at his house in Kingston in 1980. The judge classified Francis's case as non-capital murder and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment. The judge recommended Francis should serve 18 years.

Francis will be released immediately because the judge recommended his sentence should have commenced from January 26, 1981. The judge said he should have been paroled on August 3, 1999, but he was in prison when the review was done.

Raphael Henry is also to be released as the judge recommended that his prison term should commence on March 7, 1985. He is to be paroled on March 7 next year. Henry had chopped to death Leroy Anderson, at Hart Hill, Portland, on August 12, 1984. He was convicted in March, 1985.

Devon Green is to be released on September 12 this year. The judge ordered his sentence of life imprisonment should commence on May 3, 1987 and recommended he should serve 12 years before being eligible for parole. He will be released on September 12 this year. Green was convicted in 1987 for murdering his girlfriend Paulette Hyatt, of Seaview Gardens, Kingston, in February 1985, dumping her body in a pit latrine at 64 Arnold Road, Kingston. Jealousy was the motive for the killing.

Roy Bantin will be released on August 9, 2000. He is to serve 12 years before he is eligible for parole. He was convicted in May 1988 for the murder of 23-year-old Jennifer Davis, of Water-works, Westmoreland, on June 9, 1987. Davis was the mother of Bantin's three children and the Crown said jealousy was the motive for the killing.

Fabian Moses was sentenced on September 16, 1989, for the murder of 19-year-old Carl Brown. Moses pulled Brown from a bus on Orange Street, downtown Kingston on September 20, 1985 and stabbed him. Moses is to be paroled on September 16, 2001.

Howard Martin was convicted on May 17, 1981. He will be paroled on September 7, this year. He was convicted of the murder of Rupert Wisdom who was stabbed to death at his gate at Snowden Avenue, Kingston 2, on September 22, 1979.

Leaford Smith who was convicted on April 26, 1982, will be paroled on October 26, this year. He was convicted in the St. James Circuit Court for the shooting to death of Errol McGhie, of Maroon Town, on November 11, 1980.

Andrew Campbell is to serve 12 years before he is eligible for parole. He will be paroled on December 23, this year. He stabbed to death Maureen McLean, his baby's mother, at De la Vega City, St. Catherine, on January 25, 1987. He was convicted on September 23, 1987.

Glenford Campbell is to serve 14 years before being eligible for parole. He will be released on January 16, 2000. Campbell chopped to death 78-year-old Ferdinand Thompson at Mountain District, Manchester, on Nov-ember 11, 1984 and threw his body into a sink hole. He then took Thompson's cow and sold it.

Aston Little is to serve 15 years before he is eligible for parole. Little's sentence is to commence on October 25, 1984, so he will be released immediately. He was convicted on July 25, 1984 of chopping to death Oswald Davis, at Benbow, St. Catherine on January 9, 1982.

Lennon Stevens is to serve 17 years before parole and his sentence is to commence from May 22, 1984. He will be released in February 2001. Stevens shot and killed George Lawrence at Charlemont, Westmoreland on February 22, 1983, during a dispute.

Colin Johnson is to serve 18 years before parole. Johnson's sentence is to commence on December 26, 1985 and he will be released on December 26, 2003. Johnson and other men shot and killed Winston Davidson in Olympic Gardens on March 23, 1984, while Davidson was on his way to work.

Leroy Barrett is to serve 12 years before parole. The judge ordered his sentence should commence on June 15, 1989. Barrett, who was 20 at the time of the incident, shot and killed 37-year-old Patricia Lunan, his common-law wife, at their home at Majesty Gardens, on December 23, 1987.

Ivan Johnson is to serve 12 years before parole. The judge recommended that his sentence should commence from January 22, 1989. He will be paroled in the year 2001. He was convicted of the murder of Stephen Wisdom on December 8, 1987.

The two men shared a house and on December 8, 1987, they were seen walking up a hill in St. Ann. Wisdom went missing after that. Johnson gave different stories as to where Wisdom had gone, but days later his body was found over a wall with machete wounds to the body. Johnson was convicted on April 27, 1989.