A convict, who is serving an eight years jail sentence, on Saturday afternoon escaped from the Mazaruni prison while he was carrying out labour duties at the penitentiary’s farm.
In a statement, Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels said the prisoner, Christopher Punch, 29, of Lot 28 El Dorado Village, West Coast Berbice, managed to escape the confines of the prison, despite heightened security. Punch, who is currently serving four sentences of two years each – which are running consecutively – was assigned to labour duties on the farm and was attending to the animals. The task is critical, Samuels said, even as he emphasised that there was heightened security.