The lack of human resources and infrastructure are two of the major factors which contributed to the recent escape of two inmates from the Lusignan Prison, Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels says.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event yesterday morning, Samuels said that a human resource deficit contributed “significantly” to the escape.
However, he noted that if the ranks on duty at the time were more alert, the escape could have been detected.
“If we look at a population of in an excess of 500 prisoners, ideally you should have more than 25 staff on duty,” Samuels said.
On the night of the escape, Samuels said that only 30% of that number were on duty.
The Prisons Director explained that even though assessments are conducted and efforts are made to deploy ranks “as best as possible”, there are various issues that would affect the number of staff that are available to work.
“…..One, you have persons who have to be given off-duty, you have persons who may report sick, several times you have prisoners in hospital who we have to provide staff to supervise. When you take all of these factors into consideration, coupled with our already limited staff, it further erodes the amount of staff you have available to cover the prison facilities,” he highlighted.
In an effort to address the shortage of staff, Samuels said Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has since given permission for the recruitment of 28 persons.
He added that Benn has also given some directives as it relates to increasing the staff complement.
“…I am hoping that if we are able to follow those recommendations, providing that persons are willing to come on board, while it may not correct all of the issues we are facing as it relates to staffing, it will put us in a better position to provide a better level of security at the prison,” Samuels said.
Additionally, Samuels said that CCTV cameras at the facility were damaged sometime ago and as such on the night of the escape officials were not given enough coverage.
He said efforts are being made to ensure that the required level of coverage is restored at the facility.
“The entire system burnt a while ago….Unfortunately, CCTV did not provide the level of coverage we wanted the night,” Samuels said.
On Saturday morning, two inmates, Phillip Jhagroo, called ‘Tanky’, 46, Lot B3 Goed Intent, Leguan, and Donald Baird, 40, of Lot 22 Hardina Street, Wortmanville managed to escape from the Lusignan Prison.
While Samuels had initially reported that three inmates had escaped, he subsequently clarified that a “detailed, forensic” re-check revealed that Mark Emmanuel, who was named as the third escapee was accounted for.
The escape occurred sometime between 1.28am and 1.48am.
In a statement, Samuels had said Superintendent Alstan Scott, the Officer-in-Charge of the Lusignan Prison Holding Bay, reported that a routine check was conducted around 5.20am and an improvised rope made of bedsheets was seen hanging from the south western corner of the prison fence.
This, according to Samuels, prompted ranks on duty to conduct a physical muster, during which the two prisoners were unaccounted for.
“Further investigations confirmed that they escaped by scaling the said South Western fence where the improvised rope was found,” Samuels noted.
The duo are yet to be recaptured.
There have been numerous episodes, including in recent months, where inmates have either escaped or attempted to escape from the Lusignan Prison. The issue continues to raise questions about security at the facility.
Exactly one month prior to the last escape, three prisoners, Alex Mathias, Arnold Bruce Kennedy and Mark Rafino, also managed to breakout from the prison.
Mathias and Kennedy were recaptured hours after and have since been sentenced to three years imprisonment each after they admitted to escaping from lawful custody. However, Rafino remains on the run.
