…escapes with other murder, robbery accused
…cops issue wanted bulletin

POLICE have issued a wanted bulletin for notorious killer Mark Royden Durant aka Royden Williams C/D “Smallie” and another man who are said to have masterminded Sunday’s unrest at the Camp Street Prison, resulting in the shooting to death of a prison warden and the flattening of the entire penitentiary.

Williams, a resident of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, was charged along with several others for the February 2008 mass killing at Bartica.

Also wanted is Uree Varswyke, called Malcolm Gordon. Varswyke was in jail for the murder of Edward B.Beharry’s security guard, Wilbert Stewart, at Sterling Products Limited Providence location, back in December 2014. Police in a wanted bulletin said anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Uree Varswyke aka Malcolm Gordon and Mark Royden Durant aka Royden Williams C/D “Smallie,” are asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 225-6411, 226-1389, 227-2128, 226-7065, 225-2227, 225-0575, 911 or the nearest police station.

Sunday’s escape by Williams was his second bid to flee. Back in December 2008 he and five others had attempted to escape from the Georgetown Prison, but only one managed to scale the fence and was later recaptured in Rasville, Georgetown by members of the Joint Services. Police had said then that the incident occurred at 03.45 am December 28, 2008 when the six – comprising murder and narcotics accused – managed to cut through a metal grill in the supposedly secure capital section and got into the compound.

Police had identified the six as: Paul Bagot, Dennis Williams called `Anaconda’, Royden Williams known as Royden Durant, Jermaine Savory, Wayne Archibald and Sherwin Moses also known as Sherwin Nero. The police said that an alert prison officer observed them making efforts to scale the outer wall of the prison and sounded an alarm. Five of the escapees were recaptured in the compound, while Moses successfully got over the wall and was recaptured in Rasville about two hours later.

Williams, a convicted Bartica Massacre felon was earlier this year given an additional death penalty on a murder charge,and life imprisonment on four counts of manslaughter when the Bartica Massacre trial concluded. The sentence was handed down to him by Justice Roxane George SC, at the High Court and comes after a 12-member jury found him guilty of the offences. After that verdict, Justice George had imposed the death penalty on Williams called ‘Durant’ and ‘Smallie’ for eight counts of murder.

As it relates to the guilty verdicts for manslaughter, the judge explained that it was determined by the jury that Williams did not intend to kill or cause the four persons actual bodily harm. On February 17, 2008, at Bartica, he killed Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne. Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas, and Baldeo Singh were also killed in the massacre.

Meanwhile, in a facebook post, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said for a second time in just over a year, prisoners staged unrest at the Georgetown prison, resulting in the death of a warden and the destruction of the wooden buildings. The PM said five convicts out of the 1,118 prisoners have escaped, among them Williams who is on death row for the Bartica massacre. A security dragnet is deployed to capture the escapees. The PM said the fire started at 16:45hrs which police said was a diversion for the prison break.

Last March, a prison riot resulted in 17 deaths at the overcrowded facility. The new government had initiated steps to ease the remand population and to build new prison facilities at Mazaruni. President Granger today summoned an emergency session of the National Security Committee, after which he addressed the nation. This was followed by a news conference by the Director of Prisons, the Commissioner of Police, acting army Chief of Staff and the Fire Chief. Up to press time efforts were underway to relocate the prison population, even as citizens are being advised to stay calm as efforts continue to contain this situation.