A REMAND prisoner who spent almost five months on the run in Brazil after escaping from Lethem Police Lockup was yesterday sentenced to five months’ imprisonment by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.Daniel Byrd, a 22-year-old labourer of St. Ignatius Village, pleaded guilty to the charge that he, on May 17, escaped from the Lethem Police Station while being in custody on a criminal charge of break and enter with larceny.
According to the Police facts, Byrd was held at the Lethem Police Station after being remanded by the district magistrate. However, while at the station, the prisoner asked to use the washroom, and while being escorted by a constable, he knocked the officer to the floor and made good his escape to the Takutu River and swam over to the Brazil shore.
When Byrd returned to Guyana, he was arrested on October 15, after he was seen walking around in Lethem. When asked by the magistrate about the allegation, Byrd showed no sign of remorse and told her that he still had another matter before the Lethem Court.

by Clestine Juan