Blackman was severely beaten by angry prisoners armed with pieces of wood minutes after he bludgeoned and stabbed Dyal Singh. Both inmates were pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital at 3:48 am, according to a hospital press release.
The source yesterday explained that because of Blackman’s mental instability, outbursts from him were regular and on Thursday when he threatened to claim a life, it was not taken seriously.
That evening, Singh jammed Blackman while walking pass him and according to the source, an infuriated Blackman threatened to kill the man.
A fight then broke out between the two. From all appearances things calmed down after this but some time after 2 am, Blackman pulled a piece of wood from the ceiling of the dorm and began lashing Singh.
The source told this newspaper that, Singh who was lying on a mattress in the capital offence dorm got up almost immediately and, arming himself with an ice pick, began stabbing Blackman.
Blackman managed to disarm Singh and turned the weapon on him.
It was at this point the source said that the other prisoners who were in the dorm started beating Blackman but the source could not say how they acquired the pieces of wood they were using.
Stabroek News was told that the prison officers who had responded did not enter the dorm for fear that some of the prisoners might have attempted to escape and instead they called for external assistance.
It is unclear, how many officers were on duty that day and how many prisoners were in the dorm when the incident took place.
Attempts to have these questions and others answered yesterday were unsuccessful. Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday said that he did not have anything else to add in reference to the way the wardens operated. He said too that it is a standard procedure to investigate such matters departmentally.
Meanwhile, the police said they are still conducting their investigations and are in the process of taking statements from prisoners who were in the dorm at the time.
According to one police officer, whoever needs to be arrested, is already in custody.
Yesterday Blackman’s brother, Samuel, was in a calm state and expressed concerns over the accessibility the prisoners had to “big sticks”. He said that he did not wish to comment on his brother.
The man who was too distraught to speak on Friday when he first learnt of the incident from Stabroek News said yesterday that he has since met the officer in charge of the Camp Street prison and while he was briefed on what had transpired the officer could not say what had sparked it.
He said the officer told him they had tried to contact relatives but were unsuccessful.
On Friday, Samuel was very unhappy that no one from the prison service had informed him of the incident.
Post-mortem examinations will be conducted on the two prisoners tomorrow before the remains are handed over to relatives for burial.
Preliminary reports, according the Home Affairs Ministry, revealed that at approximately 2:10 am, the officers on duty responded to unusual sounds emanating from the capital dormitory. It sounded as if someone was tampering with the lock. That dormitory houses remand prisoners. After investigating, officers in the prison yard were alerted by a loud noise in the same division, where a prisoner was shouting that Blackman had assaulted another inmate – Singh. On returning to the dormitory, the ranks observed Blackman “striking” Singh, who was lying on a mattress. The other prisoners became infuriated and began to attack Blackman severely beating him.
The sirens were sounded and police, fire department and senior prison officers were informed.
According to the ministry, they responded immediately and went to the division, where the two injured prisoners were taken out at approximately 2:40am and taken to the Georgetown Hospital, where they were pronounced dead by the doctor on duty an hour later.
The ministry described the incident as an unfortunate one. Making reference to Blackman it said that the prisoner, who was deemed to be of unsound mind, had showed signs of improvement after persistent medical treatment. As a result, he was removed from the Social Division and allowed to live and mix with the general population.
The police have since said that Blackman attacked Singh with a piece of wood and lashed him about the body. As a consequence, a number of other prisoners attacked Blackman, during which he received injuries about his body. The police did not say what was used to inflict the injuries.
Blackman, 40, an ex policeman, went berserk at the Brickdam Police Station on March 1, 2004, and allegedly killed Deputy Superintendent Richard Griffith and Lance Corporal Ramnarine Latchana while wounding two more; Singh, 49, an Essequibo resident, was charged with murdering speedboat operator Stanley Bovell, whom he is accused of fatally stabbing on October 16, 2007 at Supenaam after a row over a borrowed knife.
Last June, Singh was committed to stand trial in the High Court by Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Suddie Magistrates’ Court; his trial was scheduled to begin this month.
