-commander

The female rank who was placed under close arrest following Monday’s escape of a teenaged murder accused from the Turkeyen Police Station has been released but a probe has been launched to ascertain how the lad got away since at least three ranks were on duty.

The prisoner was later turned over to the police by his family.

Contacted yesterday Commander Balram Persaud under whose command the station falls, told Stabroek News that according to the information he has received, the prisoner – 17-year-old Leon Paul of Dazzell Housing Scheme, was being kept in the general area outside the lock-ups.

There was a cell nearby where some work was being done on the sanitation facility, resulting in the removal of a toilet bowl.

According to Persaud the cell was padlocked from the outside but Paul somehow managed to pick the lock and enter the cell. He subsequently squeezed through the hole that was left as a result of the removal of the toilet bowl and escaped.

Persaud told this newspaper that at the time of the escape the cell was not in use.

Pointing out that at least three ranks were on duty, he said that although this is the explanation received from the ranks, the matter is still being investigated.

Asked how was it that the teen managed to escape undetected, the Commander responded that the ranks should be making checks on prisoners every hour.

It was apparently during one of these routine checks that Paul was discovered missing and a search was launched.

Paul is charged with the September 2, murder of  Dexroy Dodson. He appeared before the Magistrate at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court on January 28, 2009, and was remanded into police custody for court on February 10, 2009. He was being held at the station until his next court appearance, this newspaper understands.

Around 10 pm on Monday, the teen was handed over to the ranks at the station by his mother. Paul is the latest prisoner to successfully escape.

When Stabroek News visited the station several months ago, there was only one plainclothes female rank  present although a police pick up was parked in the compound along with a police motorcycle.

Persons who visited the station to report matters or to seek help had told Stabroek News that they were told to return at other times.