– female cop under close arrest
A teenage accused murderer escaped from the Turkeyen Police Station some time on Sunday night and his absence only became known when checks were made of the lock-up early yesterday morning.
In a press release issued yesterday, police said they are investigating how 17-year-old Leon Paul, of Dazzel Housing Scheme, Paradise, East Coast Demerara (ECD), managed to escape from the lock-up. It said that a policewoman has since been placed under close arrest.
According to the release, the teenager was charged with the murder of 20-year-old Dexroy Dodson whom he reportedly stabbed on September 2, 2008 at Paradise, ECD. He had appeared in the Cove and John Magistrate Court on January 29 and was remanded to police custody until February 10.
Paul, who was 16 at the time he allegedly committed the murder, was reportedly angry that that his 15-year-old sister was in a relationship with Dodson. He had threatened his sister about seeing Dodson. On the fateful day, his sister reportedly met Dodson as usual near a roadside shop and they were later seen sitting on a bench a short distance away chatting. Some time before 11 pm, Paul, alleged to have been hiding in the vicinity, pounced from behind a lamppost opposite the bench. After slapping his sister, he allegedly stabbed Dodson in the chest.
The wounded Dodson made a desperate attempt to reach his home but collapsed near a trench, a few metres away. He was found face down, the front of the white vest he was wearing drenched in blood.
Paul is the latest high-profile prisoner to escape amid a rash of attempted breakouts of varying success over the last six months.
Only last week, Suraj Narine Singh escaped from outside the Georgetown Prison, where he was doing some work. Singh was serving a five-year sentence for robbery under arms and the police have since issued a wanted bulletin for him.
On December 28 last year, six dangerous prisoners attempted to break out of the prison. One of them was actually able to scale the prison fence, suffering extensive injuries to his body from the razor wire, before making it to Rasville, where he recaptured later the same day. The six were: Paul Bagot, Dennis Williams called ‘Anaconda,’ Royden Williams known as Royden Durant, Jermaine Savory, Wayne Archibald and Sherwin Moses also known as Sherwin Nero.
In November of last year, Lindon Flavius, who was serving a three-year prison term for escaping lawful custody and Rockey Profit, on remand for attempted murder and numerous robberies, had their escape bid from the New Amsterdam Prison foiled. Flavius, 22, had also escaped from the New Amsterdam Hospital on August 25.
In October, prisoner Joel Fraser called Quincy London escaped from Ward B2 of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Prior to this, four prisoners, including two murder accused had managed to escape custody even though they were handcuffed or under security watch. Of the four, one escaped from prison officials, while the others were in police custody when they took off.
There was also the case of the now dead multiple murder accused Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, who in June last year managed to squeeze under the loose floor boards of a cell, shortly after an appearance at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court. He was gunned down by the joint services several weeks later at Kuru Kuru Linden-Soesdyke Highway, along with Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins.
