A prisoner was yesterday morning discovered in the New Amsterdam prison hanging in his cell.
Dead is 24-year-old Melvin Smartt, a labourer of Courtland Road, Corentyne, Berbice.
According to a press release from the Guyana Prison Service, Smartt was the only occupant of the cell in which he was found. Around 0645 hrs, the prisoner was released to perform his daily ablutions. “He returned to his cell and shortly after, the supervising rank on duty was alerted by other prisoners as to some unusual noise coming from the cell of prisoner Smartt. The rank immediately rushed to the cell and observed that the prisoner was hanging from a piece of cloth in his cell”, the release further stated.
The release went on to say that after the convicted prisoner was found hanging he was immediately cut down and the medical doctor on duty observed that he was not breathing. The police were then summoned to investigate.
When Stabroek News spoke to Smartt’s parents, Beryl and Aubrey Smartt, they related how they got the tragic message. They said that yesterday morning a neighbour called and said that someone from the prison had rung and said that their son had hung himself in prison. They said they received the message after 7 am.
The GPS release went on to say that Smartt was convicted on the 12th of July 2012 for “Unlawful and malicious damage to property”. According to his father he had broken a neighbour’s glass door.
He was sentenced to six months imprisonment for the crime. He was due to be discharged from prison on 2012-12-01, according to the release.
The parents noted that their son was mentally challenged and he never got a certificate to show that. At times he would be alright and then there would be a sudden transformation. The prison release said that Smartt was an emotionally disturbed person. That classification raised the question as to whether the prison service had taken the necessary precautions in dealing with Smartt.
Smartt’s body is currently at the New Amsterdam hospital morgue. A post- mortem examination is expected to be performed shortly.
He leaves to mourn his parents and his nine siblings. (David Papannah)
