TWO convicted prisoners, one for armed robbery and the other for possession of arms and ammunition, faced off on Friday in the Camp Street Prisons, resulting in one of them being hospitalised due to a stab wound.

While the name of one of the prisoners was withheld by prison authorities, the Guyana Chronicle was informed that the other inmate who was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) has been identified as Shawn Thom.
According to Director of Prisons, Senior Superintendent Gladwin Samuels, Thom was referred to the hospital on Saturday. He had earlier been relocated from one area of the prison to another area after he reportedly stabbed the other inmate with a mop stick during a fight.

However, on Saturday while checks were being made on him in made in his cell, prison wardens found Thom with a swollen face, hence the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were activated and he was taken for medical attention.
Contacted late Sunday afternoon, Samuels told this publication that the mop stick which was used to inflict the injury on the other prisoner was among the regular items issued within the prison for cleaning purposes.

He said there are times when prisoners would be required to clean their own spills and in some instances their dwelling area, as such items such as brooms are issued to the prison dorms.

Asked if he will revisit the issuing of such items, Samuels said that prisoners would always seek to improvise despite the best efforts of prison management, to restrict the use of some items within the prison system by the prisoners.
He made reference to prisoners being in possession of tooth brushes which can also be converted into weapons.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.