…eight on the run

GOVERNMENT on Tuesday announced that a total of 1,010 prisoners from the Georgetown Prisons are accounted for and confirmed that eight are still on the run following Sunday evening’s riot at the Camp Street Prison, which resulted in one officer being shot and the complex destroyed.

In a statement issued through the Department of Public Information (DPI), government said of the 1,010 inmates some were moved to Mazaruni while the majority remain at Lusignan where they were transferred following the riot.
Meanwhile, of the eight prisoners at large, four have been identified as: Mark Royden Williams aka Smallie; Uree Varswyck aka Malcolm Gordon; Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander and Cornelius Thomas (a Trinidadian). The DPI mentioned that one newspaper had reported that Dellon Henry aka `Nasty Man’ is among the escapees but this has not yet been officially announced.

Director of Prisons (DoP), Gladwin Samuels, speaking to the DPI on Tuesday, also confirmed that nine inmates had escaped during the riot and another one while being transferred to Lusignan. This prisoner- Shawn Collins 20 of Lot 6 Ketley and Drydale Streets was recaptured on Hadfield Street the same night. He is in jail on a charge of murder. The second inmate to have been recaptured is Shamudeen Mohamed. He was recaptured Monday evening.

The DPI said that on Sunday there were 1018 prisoners registered at the Georgetown Prisons. Of the 1,018 registered inmates, 980 inmates were at the prison at the time of the fire/breakout. The other 38 inmates were out of the prison on labour duties, a common feature of prison life for low risk prisoners. According to the DPI, the 38 inmates who were out on labour duties were returned to the location on Sunday evening and are all accounted for.

The riot on Sunday evening started when inmates lit simultaneous fires in the buildings and one officer was held hostage reportedly by mass killer, Royden Williams, DoP Samuels told the media late Sunday night. The prison director noted that around 16:45hrs on Sunday, he received two phone calls, one from the prison and one from a civilian, informing him of the situation at Camp Street.

He said that he was told that an officer was being held hostage and following an exchange of gunshots, the prison’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) were activated. Samuels said the wooden sections of the prison at the corner of Durban and John Streets, as well as another wooden area close to the corner of John and Bent Streets, were set ablaze. Those areas, known as the strong-cell division and the condemned division, were immediately attended to as evacuation of the prisoners commenced.

Samuels said that from his observation, all the wooden buildings at Camp Street were damaged or completely gutted and the Prison Sports Club, which was used as holding area, was subsequently set on fire and destroyed. Samuels said that there were no signs of unrest prior to Sunday and according to him, based on reports, the fires served as distractions which resulted in the break for freedom by the escapees. He said the duty officer, who could have been able to provide an account of what had transpired, is among other prison officers who are hospitalised.