One year jail for police station escapee

Lennox Cort, a detainee who was recaptured after escaping from the Providence Police Station on Monday, was yesterday sentenced to a year imprisonment for the crime.

Cort, 29 and a father of three, had been arrested and placed in police custody after being charged with unlawfully wounding another man.

Before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One yesterday, the man pleaded guilty to the charge that he, on May 26, at Providence, East Bank Demerara, escaped from lawful custody.

The facts of the offence were as charged, Prosecutor Bharat Mangru said.

In his defence, Cort explained that after being locked up, he had made numerous requests to find out about the condition of the man he was accused of wounding. According to Cort, he had feared that the man was dead but he had been denied any phone calls for further information.

He added that another prisoner, who also escaped custody and is still on the run, had urged him through a broken vent to make an escape bid as well. He quickly acquiesced.

Cort also apologised to the court during his address.

When questioned about any previous convictions, the man admitted that he had been previously sentenced to nine months imprisonment.

This time around, he was sentenced to 12 months at the Camp Street Prison.