Punctured lung caused death

THEON Smith, the Mazaruni Prison inmate who was stabbed to death on Sunday by another prisoner, died as a result of a punctured lung besides other injuries he sustained in that incident.A post-mortem performed on Smith’s body yesterday revealed that he had been stabbed several times to the upper right side chest, and this had collapsed a lung.

His assailant, Akeem Edwards, remains locked down at the very facility where the incident occurred, even as police and prison officers are trying to secure statements from several other inmates who may have witnessed the incident.

Smith and Edwards became involved in a heated argument over a missing cell phone on Sunday, which the deceased had hid and could not locate when he returned to its hiding place.

Approached for a comment on the entire incident and the status of the investigation, acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that investigators are still working on the case.

He said that, over the years, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service have been working to stem the practice of having prohibited items being smuggled beyond the prison gates; but, over the years, there has been smuggling of all kinds of weapons, drugs and other banned items into prisons around the world, and Guyana is no exception.

The top cop said that, from time to time, coordinated searches are conducted at prisons by both prison and police personnel, and prohibited items are unearthed.

“In the past, we have had to charge prisoners for being in possession of those items, and a lot of work is being done at the level of the joint services to stem the practice of illegal items ending up in the hands of prisoners,” he disclosed, adding that once prisoners have access to prohibited items, instances similar to Sunday’s incident or other conflicts will occur.

Police and prison officers have since launched investigations to ascertain how a mobile phone and a knife ended up in the possession of two persons who should not have had access to such instruments.

(By Leroy Smith)