– police settle verbal tussle among prisoners in separate incident

A CAMP Street prisoner died at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Sunday morning from wounds he received while in prison some two weeks ago.

Dead is 23-year-old Shawn Thom who was serving two, concurrent three-year sentences for the unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition.

He was admitted to the public institution on the morning of May 26, after he was reportedly discovered in a semi-conscious state by prison officials.

The day before, Thom had allegedly stabbed another prisoner during an altercation and was subsequently placed in a cell along with three other inmates.

It was in that same cell that Thom was found the next day with wounds to his head. He was on Sunday pronounced dead at 08:30hrs.

Acting Director of Prisons Kevin Pilgrim told this newspaper that the matter is under investigation.

“It is not normal to find a prisoner in a semi-conscious state as it is, they [the other inmates present in the cell] would have coined that he was hitting his head against the wall in the cell. But while they are saying that, it was not called to [the attention] any officer before, so the officers discovered him in that state in the morning,” Pilgrim said.

In keeping with the normal process, the acting director said that the prisoners who were present at the time will also be questioned.

“Because he was in the cell with others, they [the present inmates] have to give an account, as it relates to [what occurred]. So, that is currently before the police. I think that the situation may take a different turn depending on what the post- mortem or the doctor’s report says is the cause of death,” he said.
Meanwhile, contrary to other reports, Pilgrim said that Thom was not handcuffed while in the cell, as this goes against protocol.
In addition to Tom’s death, there was some disturbance on Sunday among inmates from two dormitories which house 15 and 17 prisoners, respectively.

The conflict erupted after it is alleged that a vent between the two dormitories was used by inmates to throw water on each other.
There were additional complaints that the prisoners were stealing from each other and at one point made attempts to destroy the beds to arm themselves.

“The senior officer on the ground would have intervened, attended to both dormitories and spoke to them,” Pilgrim said.