THE 26-year-old murder accused who was Friday last, shot dead after allegedly instigating a violent clash between himself and other inmates at the Timehri penitentiary, died as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to a post mortem done by Pathologist Dr. Nehal Singh on Wednesday.

A warhead was recovered and handed over to the police for ballistic examination. The body will be taken to the Lyken Funeral Parlour as the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) is assisting with the burial. Winston Hinds, called “Town Man,” of Blue Berry Hill, Wismar, was shot in the stomach by a prison officer. He was pronounced dead at the East Bank Demerara Regional Hospital. Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels had noted that the murder accused had repeatedly ignored all warnings issued by prison officers.
According to the director, several prisoners, who were armed with improvised weapons, were involved in “a serious physical altercation.”

“Prison officers attempted to restore order by breaking up the violent fracas. During this process, Hinds fled into the prison yard in an attempted bid to escape. Clear and repeated efforts were issued for Hinds to desist, but he refused in every instance and continued running,” he noted. “Prison officers were left with no option but to curtail his escape bid. This necessitated the use of live rounds as a last resort, after every option had failed.”
Hinds, previously charged with five counts of armed robbery, was remanded in January 2016, for the February 2015 killing of Richard Remington, 43, at Cholmondeley Hill, Wismar. Remington’s decomposing remains were found in a clump of bushes along a track in the vicinity of Matthews Lane in the Christianburg/Cholmondeley Hill area on February 12, last year. He had been shot three times, including once to the head.

The fatal shooting was the continuation of several weeks of violence at the country’s prisons. The unrest began with the July 9 destruction by fire of most of the Georgetown Prison, the killing of prison officer Odinga Wickham, the wounding of his colleague, Hubert Trim, and the escape of eight dangerous inmates. This was followed by the escape of 13 prisoners from the Lusignan Prison.