-relatives demand answers
Dwayne Archibald, one of the six inmates who attempted to escape from the Georgetown Prisons last December, died last Thursday at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) after being stabbed by another prisoner in June.
The man, according to relatives, was taken to the medical institution on July 1 by the Georgetown Prison after sustaining two stab wounds to the chest and abrasions about the body. Relatives told Stabroek News yesterday that Archibald had been remanded to prison some time in August last year after being charged for being in possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Archibald’s case had recently concluded and he was levelled with a three year sentence for the crime. On December 28 last year, the deceased and five other inmates attempted to escape from the Georgetown Prison but were recaptured by members of a Joint Services team the same day. Archibald and his accomplices were all charged for attempting to escape from lawful custody and the matter is still before the court.
Relatives said that they were informed by “a friend” of Archibald’s wounding several days after he was admitted to GPH. The Georgetown Prison Authority, they said, made no effort to contact them about the matter. “We learnt about it from a friend who heard from someone else…I don’t know why they [Georgetown Prison] did not inform us about what had happened,” a relative explained yesterday.
Efforts made to contact Director of Prisons Dale Erskine and Deputy Director of Prisons Poshanand Tahal for comment were unsuccessful.
Archibald, relatives reported, had two stab wounds to his left side chest when they saw him some time around July 5. The man also had “a few stitches” above the left eye and abrasion in the head and about the body.
“Is like he get most of the beating on the left side of his body,” the relative said. “Since we see him July he never say a word…he deh in such a serious state that he never say anything to we.”
After spending several weeks in the medical institution Archibald died at 4.55am last Thursday. A post-mortem examination will be conducted on his body tomorrow.
‘Iron bar’
In early July relatives said they met and spoke with a prison official who “didn’t seem to care.” The prison official, they said, allowed them to speak to the inmate who reportedly beat and stabbed Archibald. “This prisoner deh on a murder charge and plus he been to court the other day for another charge again,” relatives explained. “He [the prisoner] tell we that is nah Dwayne he was going to stab but that Dwayne just been in the way.”
Relatives said the prison officer had shown them a piece of iron, the kind used to make window bars or standard grilled gates, which was used to beat and stab Archibald. However, they were adamant that the iron bar was not the only thing used to beat Archibald since pieces of wood were found in his head and around his wounds.
“We asked the prison official how this prison manage to get this piece of iron into the dorm where remanded prisoners sleep but nothing was ever said to us…we don’t think is fair that murders getting keep in the same dorm with men who commit petty crimes,” relatives said adding that, “it don’t make no sense. You got a man wanted for a couple grams marijuana in the same room with murders… some going to end up taking advantage of some.”
Archibald, relatives further explained, had no problems with any of the inmates as far as they knew. Despite their enquiries it is still not clear whether an investigation is being conducted into Archibald’s death.
Prison officials have since informed the man’s relatives that his alleged attacker will be charged, pending the results of the post-mortem. Relatives said that they were told that it must first be determined whether Archibald died as a result of the wounds he would have sustained during the attack before charges are instituted.
‘Victimised?’
Archibald was shackled to his bed while a patient under guard in GPH’s Surgical Ward. The man, relatives said, should have been given more “sensitive” medical care.
“We didn’t like the fact that he was shackled because he couldn’t talk and hardly moved so I don’t know why they chain him to the bed…we can’t complain about how the Prison Authority treat him while he was in hospital because they ensured he got things like milk and other eatables but we feel that he was victimized…they think that oh he is a prisoner so who cares about him,” one of Archibald’s relatives said.
Relatives said that despite several enquiries they were never given a proper explanation of why Archibald was not moved to the High Dependency Unit or the Intensive Care Unit. They stressed that they are not satisfied that the man received the best medical care that could be provided at the institution.
Efforts made to contact GPH’s Public Relations Officer Alero Proctor shortly after 5pm yesterday for a comment were not successful. However, a hospital source told Stabroek News that Archibald was not “victimised” or treated differently by hospital staff. The man, according to the source, was given whatever medical care GPH had to offer.
Archibald is one of two prisoners who died last Thursday. Davendra ‘Nave’ Beharry, a 27-year-old labourer of Hand-en-Veldt, Mahaica was stabbed to death last Thursday by inmates of the Georgetown Prison. Beharry lost his life one day after he was placed on remand for a larceny charge when he appeared at the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court.
The man was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead that day. Relatives told this newspaper yesterday that someone had stolen some spare parts from Chris Auto Sales where Beharry had been employed and given him to sell.
The Georgetown Prison has also remained silent on Beharry’s death. A police press release said that Beharry was found dead in his cell. It added “investigations have so far revealed that about 2100 h (Thursday) he was behaving abnormally in his cell located in the social block, when he was attacked by two other inmates and sustained injuries.” A post-mortem examination is to be done.
