The imprisonment of Otis Bell this week for a vicious knife attack on his ex-girlfriend was one of the first cases of its kind to be dealt with under a new sentencing regime.

Bell was jailed for 12 years for slashing RoseAnn Edwards across her neck with a curved blade when he attacked her in her Hamilton home in January.

The 61-year-old had previously admitted a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Until recently the sentencing provisions relating to the charge were governed by S305 of the Criminal Code, which set the maximum sentence for the crime at ten years’ imprisonment.

However, in 2014 the Criminal Code Amendment Act provided judges with a far greater discretion that increased the maximum sentence for wounding with intent to life imprisonment.

Sentencing Judge Carlisle Greaves said: “Prior to a recent amendment the maximum penalty for an offence such as this was ten years in prison and for the offence just above it of attempted murder the maximum sentence was 20 years.

“Many felt that the state of affairs was inadequate, thus the bringing of it in line with many Commonwealth jurisdictions.

“We are now provided with a wider discretion.

“There will be cases where the facts are so heinous that they fit within the realm of attempted murder and this will attract a sentence at a higher range than they would fit into the older regime. I think this is one of those cases.”

The Criminal Code Amendment Act 2014 removed premeditated murder from Bermuda’s legal framework.

It also gave judges an absolute discretion in murder cases to set the minimum tariff an offender must serve behind bars before he or she is considered for release.

This followed and overruled a Privy Council decision that had limited the maximum/minimum term an offender must serve behind bars before being eligible for release to 25 years.