David Wilson, aged 28, was hanged for killing a security guard at an hotel four years ago.

Correspondents say the action is part of a regional backlash by former British colonies against calls from British courts and human rights groups to ban executions.

Many countries in the region are now putting deadlines on convicts' appeals to international tribunals.

The human rights group Amnesty International condemned the execution as a backward step for the Caribbean.

Caribbean states say they need capital punishment to fight drug crime

Caribbean governments say they need capital punishment to help halt an increase in violent crime associated with a growth in drug trafficking.

Opinion polls in the Caribbean often show strong public support for capital punishment.

Several of the region's leaders have condemned pressure from abroad not to execute criminals as a challenge to their national sovereignty.

Leaders of the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, are planning to set up a regional Supreme Court to replace the British Privy Council in London as the region's final court of appeal.

The new court is expected to start operating next year.