Murder-accused Owen Belfield yesterday testified that there was calm in the prisoners’ dorm prior to the deadly fire at the Camp Street jail that claimed the lives of 17 inmates.
Belfield, an inmate of Capital A section, was the fifth witness called to testify at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the prisoner deaths at the Department of Public Service building, where he also admitted to taking a photo in the jail that was uploaded to Facebook.
In his testimony, Belfield recalled witnessing the takedown of two inmates by a Joint Services task force. This takedown is believed to have taken place following a search on the prisoners on the morning of March 3rd, prior to the fire in the Capital Offences section.
He said he was on his way out of the dormitory when the call was made by authorities for the door to be shut. Before its closure, he said, he had a clear view into the prison yard. From his position, he said he could see a line of officers and a line of inmates and recalled that at the time the bags of the inmates were being searched.
He recalled then seeing members of the task force surround an inmate by the name of Steve Allicock and move him away from the line where the search was being conducted. Allicock was in May, 2015, charged with the murder of Wendell Tappin, which occurred in December, 2009.
He then witnessed the second takedown—that of Collis Collison, known as “Juvenile.” He said approximately four officers approached Collison with shields and braced him. He said he then saw them lift him into the air and take him to the front. This evidence corroborates that of two other witnesses—Errol Kesney and Dwain Lewis.
At that point, attorney for the Prison Service Selwyn Pieters suggested to the witness that at the moment he saw Collison being surrounded by the officers, he had already been searched. He further suggested that when the officers surrounded the inmate, he attempted to fight them off.
