Inmate starts fire at Camp St prison after cellphone row

A prisoner on Friday set fire to the catwalk of the solitary division of the Georgetown Prison on Camp Street.

At about 4.50 pm on Friday, the fire was set by convicted prisoner Odel Roberts, who is currently serving a three-year sentence, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) said last evening.

The fire was quickly brought under control by the officers on duty at the prison at that time.

In a press release, the GPS said Roberts was upset with a fellow prisoner who refused to lend him a cell phone along with a DVD Player. Following initial investigations it was discovered that Roberts lit a newspaper along with a piece of his mattress and threw it on the catwalk just outside the door of the other prisoner.

The release noted that subsequent to the incident, the Guyana Fire Service visited the scene and declared the prison safe.

An investigation by the police has been launched.