By Zoisa Fraser
A post-mortem examination conducted yesterday on the remains of Nolan Noble, the Camp Street prisoner who was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital on Saturday, showed that he died from blunt force trauma to the head, a relative said last evening.
Several attempts to confirm this with the police yesterday were futile.
According to the dead man’s brother, Royston, the examination took place sometime yesterday morning and was witnessed by his mother. He said that he has since been told that the back of his brother’s head was flat.
Noble’s relatives are calling for a full investigation into his death due to the conflicting reports they have so far received.
The Guyana Prison Service has made nothing public since the incident was first highlighted in the media on Monday.
Noble, 35, formerly of Fairs Rust, Mc Kenzie, Lin-den was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital around 1 pm. There were reports that there was a suspicious mark on his forehead and another behind his head. Hospital sources had told this newspaper that they were told that the man was epileptic and may have had an attack during which he fell and hit his head. When he arrived at the hospital, blood was oozing from his nose but according to reports there were no marks of violence on the body. The man had been suffering from mental illness for 11 years now and had had several brushes with the law, the most recent being a charge of murder.
Noble was on remand for the murder of Ricardo Allicock, who was killed on a basketball court at Christian-burg in Linden several years ago. At the time of his death, the matter had not been completed.
Speaking via phone from his home in Linden yesterday, Noble’s younger brother, Royston expressed suspicions about the way his brother died.
The man dispelled reports in the media that his brother was “mad” or was suffering from epilepsy.
“He was not mad, he had mental problems and that was caused by drug use… I never knew my brother to be suffering from anything. As far as I know he was physically fit”, the man said.
He said that he had so far received two different accounts of how his brother may have died and in light of this he believes that there should be a full investigation into the death.
Royston said that a man who identified himself as a prison officer was the first to make contact with him.
He said that after asking him some questions and talking slowly, the officer told him that his brother was not well and was taken to the hospital. “After beating around the bush, he tell me how my brother dead and I ask he how? He told me that how it appears as though he died in his sleep”, Royston said adding that when he heard that he immediately knew “that something wasn’t right”.
Royston said that a female warder later contacted him and said that they found him lying in his cell before promptly ending the call.
He said that the woman subsequently called back and said that his brother was found lying motionless and he had what appeared to be a puncture wound at the back of his head and above his right eye.
Drug Abuse
Royston told this newspaper that he last saw his brother earlier in the year and all looked well. He said that his brother reported no problems to him.
According to him, Noble’s mental instability was caused by drug abuse which was influence by friends and peer pressure.
He said that his brother had already graduated from the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) when he started to have mental problems and would go through periods of psychosis.
Due to his mental state, Noble has over the years been in and out of prison. In addition to the current murder charge, he was accused of a previous murder but was acquitted.
Noble who will be buried sometime next week also leaves to mourn his mother Claudette and a 16-year-old son, Marlon.
Noble’s death comes just after another prisoner, Edwin Niles died at the Georgetown Hospital after sustaining injuries at the Georgetown prison during questioning about ammunition that he was found with. His death raised concerns about torture and there have been several calls for an independent inquiry into his demise. A post-mortem examination revealed that he died from a clot in his lungs as a result of burns.
