Prison officer Ashanti MC Allister was yesterday charged with negligently allowing persons in custody to escape.

The indictable charge, which was instituted on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions was read to the defendant in the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court.

The charge followed an incident at the New Amsterdam Prison on November 15, 2008 when Samuel Fraser, Rocky Profit, Karim Charles and Lindon Flavious escaped from the facility after using a hacksaw blade, which had been concealed in a pair of rubber slippers, to saw through cell bars.

The charge which was read by Magistrate Chandra Sohan stated that Mc Allister, as a prison officer, through negligence allowed the inmates to escape. She was placed on $20,000 bail and ordered to return to court on October 30.

Last Friday the three men implicated in the alleged escape were remanded following their appearance before Magistrate Sohan

A fourth man, Lindon Flavios, is currently serving a five-year sentence at Mazaruni prison for a similar offence. Fraser, Charles and Profit, who were all unrepresented were not required to plead to the charge of escaping from lawful custody.

The men are also jointly charged with violently breaking the New Amsterdam Prison with intent to set themselves at liberty.

Police alleged that the men aided by a relative who had concealed a hacksaw blade in footwear had sawn out iron bars from their cell and escaped. They were quickly recaptured by prison officials who were on duty in an adjoining cultivation plot.

The men are expected to return to court on October 30.