A High Court judge in The Bahamas has ruled that a 28-year-old man convicted of murder does not have the right to maintain his dreadlocks while serving his prison sentence.
Justice Dale Fitzpatrick dismissed an application brought on behalf of Franco Ferguson, who is serving 35 years for the 2020 killing of Charles Demeritte. Ferguson’s lawyer had asked the court to prevent prison officials from cutting his hair, but prosecutors objected, noting that his dreadlocks were worn as a fashion choice rather than as part of a religious practice.
Ferguson, a former technician at Bahamas Power and Light, was convicted earlier this year after admitting he fatally stabbed Demeritte, who was dating the mother of his daughter. The incident occurred on September 11, 2020, after a fight broke out at the woman’s apartment.
Prosecutor Rashied Edgecombe told jurors that Ferguson escalated the confrontation by introducing a knife into what began as a fistfight. Six of the eight jurors rejected Ferguson’s claim of self-defense and found him guilty of murder.
According to court testimony, Ferguson initially locked himself in the bathroom as Demeritte tried to break in with a knife. He climbed onto the roof through a window but later came down after the weapon was confiscated. A second altercation followed, during which Demeritte placed Ferguson in a headlock. Ferguson then stabbed him in the thigh, severing the femoral artery.
Ferguson will now serve his 35-year sentence without the option of keeping his dreadlocks, as the court sided with the prosecution’s argument that prison rules take precedence in the absence of religious grounds.
