A convicted prisoner, who reportedly suffered a sound beating after he was found with a quantity of ammunition following a day of labour at army base Camp Ayanganna last week, on Friday succumbed to his injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he had been a patient for the last nine days.
Edwin Niles, 34, of Guyhoc Park was convicted for possession of cannabis on September 18, 2006 and sentenced to a three-year prison term, which would have expired on September 26 this year.
The Guyana Prison Service (GPS) in a statement signed by Prisons Chief Dale Erskine regrettably announc-ed the death of the prisoner who died around 11 pm on Friday.
The statement said the man was admitted to the hospital following reports that he had been beaten after he was found with seven .22 rounds of ammunition.
It said that on the day in question Niles had just returned from the army base when a routine search of his person prior to him re-entering the prison, turned up the ammunition.
An investigation was launched to ascertain how Niles had acquired the ammunition.
The statement said this investigation is still ongoing. Contacted yesterday, Erskine told this newspaper that the allegations were that the man was injured during an altercation with prison officers.
Asked about the nature of reports on Niles while he was a patient at the hospital, Erskine said the feedback he had received was that the man’s injuries were not life threatening.
Erskine said the prison administration has since been in contact with the man’s relatives. He would not comment further.
Hospital sources told Stabroek News yesterday that even though Niles had seemed to be recovering, his body bore serious lacerations and he had a broken arm as well as burns on his back.
The source said the man was able to walk to and from his bed and the washroom, but his body bore several “black and blue marks”, which may have caused much internal bleeding.
Stabroek News contacted the man’s relatives yesterday, but they said they preferred not to make any comment as nothing could be done to bring him back.
Meanwhile, this newspaper was informed that an inquiry has since been launched at the army base and several ranks were being questioned as well as other prisoners who were there at the same time as Niles.
It Is Alleged He Went To Jail For Being In Possession Of Cannabis (Weed/Ganja/Herb/Marijuana) A Crime That Does Not (Directly) Carry The Death Penalty In Guyana But As We See In This Man’s Case INDIRECTLY It Did, Very Sad Given The Fact He Had Served ALMOST All Of His Time, Slated To Be Released Sometime In September, But My Real Question Is “How Does The Very People That Lock Other People Up For Cruelty To Animals Practice Their Own Form Of Cruelty On Other Humans To The Point Where A Life Is Subsequently Lossed, Also Now There’s Reports That The Now Deceased Was Involved In Some Sort Of Fight With Other Inmates, This Suituation Needs Some Independent Investigation To Get To The TRUTH!!
In ,this case something is worng here ,who was supervising the prisoner at the army base ,was it prison officer or the army ,why the prisoner was not search at the army base befour they was taken back to the prison ,who take back the prisoner to the prison ,that mean anyone can walk in an out the army base
My condolences! Simply put it does look like a death sentence for drug possession.
Dunno what will come out of the investigations and inquiries. There is already an established pattern for what usually happens in these cases.
Who Knows? This may be the ‘turning point’