-mother of victim
Murder accused, Trevor Major, who mysteriously managed to escape from a prisons vehicle while on the way from Providence to Camp Street, had fled from court before and so the police should have been extra wary with him, the mother of his alleged victim says.

Marva Thomas, the mother of the man whom the escapee allegedly killed, is adamant that the flight should never have occurred. She told Stabroek News yesterday that she was present at the Providence Magistrate’s Court one afternoon earlier this year, when the man got out of the docks and attempted to run out of the Court. He was captured by the policemen present and was then taken from the court upon orders by the presiding Magistrate.  Thomas said that the now escaped prisoner had taken advantage of the limited police presence at the court on that afternoon.  She was later told by the police that the man had picked the handcuffs. The woman told this newspaper that she cannot remember whether or not the prisoner’s hands were handcuffed at the time of his attempted getaway. She did note, however, that even after that escape attempt by Major, there were no obvious additional security measures enforced at his subsequent court appearances.

The clearly upset mother said that she was not informed of the prisoner’s escape on Wednesday until she was told by a neighbour on Thursday.  “Words cannot express my anger at the entire situation” she said, “particularly when taking into consideration that he attempted to escape before. Such prisoners should be kept in chains” she added. She expressed her wish for the escaped convict to be recaptured urgently.

The accused murderer escaped from a prison van on Wednesday afternoon as he and others were being taken back to Camp Street prison after an appearance at the Providence Magistrate’s Court. It is alleged that the prisoner managed to pick the handcuffs and open the prison van door in the vicinity of Croal Street. Searches by members of the Guyana Police Force for him proved futile. Two police ranks have since been placed under close arrest following his disappearance.

Major was charged last September with the murder of security guard Marvin Sancho. The guard’s decomposing body was found in a bed in his home at Supply, East Bank Demerara. Residents were alerted by a strong stench coming from the home of the murdered man, and when a search was carried out, Sancho’s body was found with wounds to his head and a bloody piece of wood was lying nearby.

Deputy prison head Poshanand Tahal told this newspaper on Thursday that the incident is out of the hands of the prison department since it was the police who were escorting the prisoners at the time of the escape.
“This has nothing to do with us. It is the police who was escorting the prisoners”, he said.

Tahal added that the information he has is that the prisoners left the court and somewhere along the route, Major escaped. He did not say where or when the escape may have occurred.

Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said on Thursday that the two ranks who were escorting the prisoners have been placed under close arrest.

Asked where the ranks were during the journey, he said that the two were sitting at the front of the vehicle. The prisoners would have been secured in the enclosed back of the vehicle.

According to him, to facilitate his escape, the accused picked the lock on his handcuffs and the police have already taken statements from the prisoners to ascertain how he did that.

This escape comes on the heels of another which occurred a month ago during which multiple murder accused Jermaine `Skinny’ Charles managed to escape unnoticed from the Sparendaam Police Station lock-ups.

According to reports he managed to squeeze under loose floor boards in his cell shortly after a court appearance and ranks only realized that he was missing several hours later when they were preparing to take the prisoners back to the Camp Street prison.

Several ranks have since been transferred from that station and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) now has to decide if charges will be laid again any of the officers.