Convicted prisoner, Christopher Punch, who escaped from the Mazaruni prison just over a month ago after he asked to be released to urinate in some bushes near to where he was carrying out labour duties, has been recaptured.
In a statement, Prison Director, Gladwin Samuels said Punch was recaptured by police on April 14, at the corner of Norton and John streets in Georgetown. At the time the policemen were on patrol in the area.
Punch has been handed over to prison authorities and is likely to face charges soon. However, Samuels explained that with the threat of the coronavirus, Punch will be isolated for 14 days and once cleared of any COVID-19 symptoms, will be allowed to return to the prison population.
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 had said at the time of the escape, even as he emphasised that there was heightened security.
Stabroek News understands that the prisoner asked to be released to urinate in some bushes nearby. It is believed that he used the opportunity to escape as prison officers could not account for him when they began to round up other inmates after the day’s work was over.
Punch was jailed for four counts of larceny of motor cycle and one count of attempted larceny, for which he was sentenced to one year imprisonment on the latter charge. The one-year sentence is running concurrently with one of the two-year sentences.
