PRIME MINISTER BROWNE WANTS INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF FIREARM SENTENCING

Prime Minister the Right Honourable Gaston Browne is insisting he is not seeking to control the courts, but is also refusing to back away from his criticism of what he sees as lenient sentences for serious crimes.

He has issued a detailed response to a joint statement from the Caribbean Heads of Judiciary, following controversy over his statements about making an unnamed judge persona non grata, over what he considers lenient sentences.

The head of government has also written to Chief Justice Margaret Price-Findlay to propose an independent review of firearm sentencing, repeat offending and the wider criminal justice system.

Jamie Roacher reports.