Privy Council To Review 50-Year Sentence In William Forbes Manslaughter Case

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The country’s highest court is set to review a 50-year prison sentence handed down to William Forbes for manslaughter.

The privy council has granted Forbes permission to appeal his sentence, with a hearing set for January 2027.

Forbes was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter in 2012, after killing his girlfriend.

He told police that the deceased had taunted him claiming that she had infected him with AIDS and quote “all of the whores with whom he was sleeping were slowly dying.”

Forbes’ conviction and sentence were upheld in 2015. The Court of Appeal rejected a second-chance appeal against sentence in 2024.

Forbes made the bid to reduce his time after the privy council ordered the resentencing of Roger Watson after describing his 50-year sentence for manslaughter as draconian.

Watson killed a 12-year-old boy after opening fire on a home with an assault rifle in 2003…He was released from prison in 2024.