By Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter THE THREE accused who were convicted on Wednesday of murdering Shirley Playfair, 60, the prominent Kingston lawyer, were yesterday sentenced to serve from 45 to 60 years in prison before they are eligible for parole. They were each sentenced to life imprisonment for non-capital murder but Justice Kay Beckford, who presided over the trial, recommended the length of time they should spend in prison before they can be eligible for parole. Annette Livingston, Mrs. Playfair's long-time secretary, picked up the stiffest sentence - 60 years' imprisonment before being eligible for parole. Livingston, 42, of Lot 151 Wood-stock Housing Scheme, Buff Bay, Portland, became the first murder convict to be sentenced to serve such a long sentence before she could be considered for parole. She would not leave prison until she is 102 years old. She is married with two daughters, ages 17 and 13 years. She was Mrs. Playfair's secretary for 17 years - up to the time her boss was murdered on April 13, 2000. Twenty-five-year-old Ramone 'Fudgie' Drysdale, slippers vendor, of 1 Metcalfe Road, Kingston 13, was sentenced to 55 years before parole. GETAWAY DRIVER GETS 45 Drysdale and 26-year-old Dwayne 'Amin' Williams, of Metcalfe Road, were the two men who, the court was told, used 'ratchet' knives to cut Mrs. Playfair's throat as she lunched at her desk. Williams escaped from custody on April 22 last year and is still at large. Ashley Ricketts, 52, taxi driver, of 44A Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 13 and 7 March Pen Road, St. Catherine, who was described by the prosecution as the man who drove the "getaway car", is to serve 45 years before he is eligible for parole. Ricketts is the father of seven children, ranging in ages from 26 to 12 years, and the court was told that they are dependent on him for support. "Jesus!", one spectator exclaimed, when she heard the first sentence of 55 years imposed on Drysdale. JUSTICE SERVED "Justice has been served," Dr. Lori Playfair remarked after the sentences were passed in the Home Circuit Court. Dr. Playfair, who is one of Mrs. Playfair's daughters, attended the trial daily since it began on March 17. The three accused showed no emotion when the sentences were passed on them. Spectators who packed the courtroom had mixed reaction to the sentences. Some said the sentences would be reduced on appeal while others said the sentences "fit the crime". However, minutes after Livingston was sentenced, her lawyer, Frank Phipps, Q.C., filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal Registry. Livingston is contending that there was a procedural irregularity resulting in a miscarriage of justice because she was not given a separate trial from the accused Ricketts, who had given written statements to the police. Also, she is complaining that the judge misdirected the jury on the legal principles of common design and circumstantial evidence. She is contending also that the judge invited the jury to draw inferences that were unsupported by the primary facts in the case. It will be argued on appeal that the verdict is unreasonable and the sentence manifestly excessive. The Crown, represented by Kathy Pyke, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, presented evidence at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that there was a common design to murder Mrs. Playfair and that Drysdale, Ricketts and Livingston participated in the plan. Mrs. Playfair was in her office at Seymour Park, 2 Seymour Avenue, Kingston 10, when Drysdale and Amin went there and cut her throat with ratchet knives. MURDERED Ricketts drove the men to Mrs. Playfair's office and the three were held on Metcalfe Road about 45 minutes after Mrs. Playfair was murdered. Ms. Pyke told The Gleaner yesterday that the soldiers - Private Gareth McKenzie and Corporals Oneil Hibbert and Ricardo Hepburn - as well as Constable Eric Lindsay should be commended for the role they played in spotting the car and apprehending the men. Attorney-at-law Sylvester Morris who represented Drysdale and attorney-at-law George Soutar who represented Ricketts, in making pleas for leniency, asked the judge to sentence them so that they can have some hope of a future. "I have nothing to say at this stage why the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment should not be imposed," Mr. Phipps said, adding that the mandatory sentence was being "tested elsewhere". (If the judge had sentenced the trio to life imprisonment without stating how much time they should serve before becoming eligible for parole, they would most likely have been released after seven years' imprisonment which usually is the time served by convicts who are sentenced to life imprisonment). Justice Beckford, in passing sentence, remarked that "all murders are vile. From the days of Cain and Abel it was vile and it is vile today. It does not matter who the victim is. What does matter is the manner in which the murder is committed and this is what will be reflected in the sentences." In sentencing Livingston, the judge criticised her for allowing the "employer you profess to love" to walk unassisted to the doctor's office downstairs after her throat was cut.