Camp Street Prison inmate Collis Collison yesterday testified of his knowledge of the door to the Capital A block being obstructed by inmates two days in succession.
Since the March 3rd fire that claimed the lives of 17 inmates, prison officials have made claims that when they made attempts to open the door to the Capital A Block to get prisoners out, they were prevented from doing so because a cork had been lodged in the keyhole.
Collison, the eighth witness to take the stand since the start of the inquiry into the prisoner deaths, stated that he has been a resident of Capital A since October last, after he was charged with discharging a loaded firearm. He also related being incarcerated in the past on two charges of murder—with one of those allegations being levelled against him at the age of 14—and an additional charge of armed robbery.
Taking the stand yesterday at the Department of Public Service building, Collison recalled that on March 3rd, when the Officer-in-Charge of the Prison Kevin Pilgrim had come to the dorm to relay that a search was about to be conducted and the accompanying officer, Charles, attempted to open the door, it would not unlock.
Collison stated that he did not know what was blocking the door initially, but when he told the other inmates to unblock it, a cork was removed.
When the inmates were instructed to leave the division five by five, he exited with the second group. He had just seen another inmate, Steve Allicock, who had left with the first group, being circled by officials after he was searched, held by the feet and lifted up.
He said a searched was conducted on him and no contraband was found. But then he noticed the same officers who had surrounded Allicock rushed to him with shields and batons. They braced him, he said, threw him to the ground and an officer braced his knee to his chest. He said while this was happening, an officer named Mentore dealt him a cuff, while others shackled his hands and feet.
As he was being dragged away from the tarmac, his front facing the New Capital division building, he said he saw the third and fourth groups of inmates run back into the building. He suggested that this was as a result of fear on their part. Others have testified that the apparent mistreatment of the prisoners had reignited the unrest in Capital A prior to the start of the fatal fire.
Collison was taken to the reception area, where some time after, through a back window, he saw black smoke and heard hollering from the direction of Capital A. He recalled seeing no officers on the catwalk at the time, only prisoners, who he later learned had broken out of their dorm. After standing at the window for about half hour, Collison said an officer came up and, crying, told him that prisoners had died. He stated that at that point he began crying too.
The day prior, the door had been blocked as well. Although he was not there at the time, Collison stated that on March 2nd, he had been on his way back to his dorm after leaving the infirmary, when he was escorted by a prison official to the cage, where he waited alone for approximately 15 minutes while officials tried to gather the inmates for a Joint Services search. He related that officers told him that prisoners had blocked off the door to the division.
According to Collison, he does not know of anyone being upset following that particular search. In earlier witness testimony, it had been revealed that prison officials came away with two buckets full of cellphones and marijuana, items prohibited within the prison.
Later that night, after retiring to bed and getting just about 20 minutes sleep, the inmate said he was awakened by the smell of smoke in the dormitory. When he attempted to ask what had happened, he was shut down by other inmates, who told him the matter did not concern him, while stating that they were in prison for five to six years awaiting trial while he was just in on a “flat charge.”
He said he was concerned for his own safety so he stayed in a corner and covered his nose with his t-shirt. The rest of the dorm, however, was in a commotion, as inmates ran up and down securing their food and other belongings from the water being sprayed onto the building by the fire department.
During yesterday’s session, which lasted for half a day only, Collison was examined by the Commission Counsel, Excellence Dazzell, and cross-examined by Joint Services attorney Selwyn Pieters.
