Two Camp St. prisoners die after brawl

Two prisoners died early yesterday morning after a fight broke out in the capital offence dormitory of the Georgetown Prisons, leaving relatives of the men in shock and questioning how prison authorities allowed the situation to turn deadly.

Dyal Singh

Dead are double-murder accused Solomon Blackman and Essequibo resident Dyal Singh, who arrived at the Georgetown Hospital mortally wounded. Blackman attacked Singh and was afterward set upon by other prisoners. The two men were pronounced dead on arrival at around 3:45 am.

Blackman, 40, an ex policeman, went berserk at the Brickdam Police Station on March 1, 2004, and allegedly killed Deputy Superintendent Richard Griffith and Lance Corporal Ramnarine Latchana while wounding two more; Singh, 49, was an Essequibo resident was charged with murdering speedboat operator Stanley Bovell, whom he is accused of fatally stabbing on October 16, 2007 at Supenaam after a row over a borrowed knife.

Last June, Singh was committed to stand trial in the High Court by Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Suddie Magistrates’ Court and it was scheduled to begin next month. Meanwhile Blackman, of Mocha Arcadia, was deemed to be of unsound mind and in light of yesterday’s incident questions were raised as to why he wasn’t kept in the area designated for such prisoners.

Solomon Blackman

In a statement last evening, the Home Affairs Ministry explained that due to persistent medical treatment, Blackman showed some improvement. As a result, he was removed from the Social Division and allowed to live and mix with the general population. The Ministry described the incident as “most unfortunate” and all assured that the security at the prison was stable.

Preliminary reports, according to the statement, revealed that at approximately 2:10 am, the officers on-duty responded to unusual sounds emanating from the capital dormitory. It sounded as if some one was tampering with the lock. The dormitory houses remanded prisoners. After investigating, officers in the prison yard were alerted by a loud noise in the same division, where a prisoner was shouting that Blackman had assaulted another inmate-Singh. On returning to the dormitory, the ranks observed Blackman “striking” Singh, who was lying on a mattress.  The other prisoners became infuriated and began to attack Blackman severely beating him.

The sirens were sounded and police, fire department and senior prison officers were informed.

According to the statement, they responded immediately and went to the division, where the two injured prisoners were taken out at approximately 2:40am and taken to the Georgetown Hospital, where they were pronounced dead by the doctor on duty an hour later. “The Ministry of Home Affairs regrets the occurrence of this incident and expresses its deepest sympathy to the family and relatives of the two prisoners,” the statement added.

The police, meanwhile, reported the start of investigations, while saying Blackman attacked Singh with a piece of wood and lashed him about the body. As a consequence, a number of other prisoners attacked Blackman, during which he received injuries about his body. The release did not say what was used to inflict the injuries.

Yesterday, there were many unanswered questions and concerns and despite numerous efforts by this newspaper, Director of Prisons Dale Erskine could not be reached. Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee when contacted yesterday afternoon said that he was still receiving information and could not comment at the time.

Though neither the police nor the Home Affairs Ministry made mention of at least one sharp implement being used in the incident, sources close to the prisons and the hospital said that Singh had been stabbed multiple times about the body. Two of the man’s relatives, who saw the body, also reported seeing stab wounds. From all reports, Blackman was the victim of a severe beating with pieces of wood.

How the inmates came in possession of wood and, in the case of Blackman what is believed to be a sharp implement, is unclear. The issue has been a problem for prison officials over the years and they have been unable to remedy it. It has also not been explained what delayed the responding officers from entering the dorm, after witnessing Blackman being beaten or what may have sparked the incident.

Singh’s wife, Shelochanie, was close to tears while speaking with Stabroek News. The woman recalled that at around 2:40 am she received a call from a prisoner informing her that her husband had been killed. The woman said that the message left her in shock and she almost immediately started making plans to travel to the city.

According to her, she saw the body at the Georgetown Hospital mortuary and it was badly swollen and covered in blood. The woman said that given the condition of the body, she did not check to see if there were any wounds.

However, the man’s brother told the media outside the hospital that “he get lash up and he body get bore up” before questioning where the prison wardens were at the time of the incident.

“How this coulda happen? Like he get beat with wood. Where they get that from?” the visibly upset man said.

Yesterday Shelochanie was adamant that she will get no justice for the death of her husband but nevertheless pleaded for some sort of action to be taken against the prison officers who were on-duty at the time.

The woman said that a prison official made contact with her home in Supernaam hours after the incident but she had already travelled to Georgetown. She said that she spoke with the officer in charge at the Georgetown Prisons and he told her that her husband was asleep when an inmate came and dealt him some lashes. The officer said too that other prisoners who were there at the time retaliated by beating the man.

The woman expressed concern that prison officers failed to rescue her husband while he was being attacked and Singh’s brother said that there appears to be more to the story than they are being told.

According to Shelochanie, Singh was a father figure to many inmates and when she saw him on Monday, he showed off some of his friends to her.

Meanwhile Maurice Bovell, the brother of Stanley Bovell, the man Singh was accused of murdering, when contacted in Supernaam yesterday said that he was upset since the matter was almost completed. “We wanted him to go to court and let there be a fair trail…. Now we will have to leave everything to God,” Bovell said, adding that Singh was his neighbour and before the incident there was never a confrontation.

Meanwhile, for Blackman, it was an eviction from his Benn Street, Wortmanville home that triggering his rampage on the Brickdam Police Station on March 1, 2004. The man, after getting wind of his eviction, went to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and, after not receiving any satisfaction, he went to the station.

While at the station, Blackman suddenly attacked Constable Kesier Cosbert who was the compound sentry and lashed him in the head with a bottle. Cosbert fell and Blackman snatched his firearm from his holster and shot him in his right leg. He subsequently shot and killed Assistant Superintendent Richard Griffith and Lance Corporal Ramnarine Latchana. Corporal Clifton Nelson was also injured in the attack.

Blackman was eventually confronted by a policeman who shot him in the leg.

Following the shooting, Blackman’s father, Colin, explained that his son had a history of violence and this became worse when he entered the force. Blackman was a former member of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU).

Blackman broke his father’s hand in 1996 after he was put out of their house in Mocha.

The man, who has since passed away, also denied that his son was mentally ill, saying that in late 1996 he had taken him to a psychiatrist for an examination and he was declared mentally fit and normal.

Yesterday, Blackman’s brother, Samuel, when contacted was unaware that his brother was dead and was in disbelief when told by this newspaper. The man was too distraught to speak and he was very unhappy that no one from the prison service informed him of the incident.