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Despite court order… Mentally-ill arson suspect still in police custody
Almost a week has passed since fire destroyed the Observation Ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, and the alleged arsonist, Leonard Nelson, remains in police custody, despite his mother obtaining a temporary order from the court for him to be admitted to the psychiatric hospital.
Nelson was taken to the psychiatrist at GPHC yesterday, and was subsequently returned to the lockups.
According to his mother, Abiola Nelson, this was done despite her producing the court order.
The woman lamented to this newspaper that the police have not even told her why her son is in custody.
She said that the environment cannot be good for Nelson, since he is not getting any medication and there is no one to tend to wounds he sustained in the wake of the fire. “That place not good for him…What if my son try to hang himself now?”
Ms Nelson said that she is very concerned for the safety and well-being of her son in the lockups, and would much rather that he be placed in the psychiatric hospital.
When Leonard Nelson arrived at the hospital, he began singing. The song explained how he felt, and he began crying.
Nelson said that they have accused him of setting the fire. According to him, he cannot remember all that happened, but he has denied setting the fire.
Earlier, Abiola Nelson had painted a horrific picture of security conditions at the Observation Ward, which allowed violent inmates to fashion improvised weapons and get their hands on flammable substances.
The woman also said that her son almost hanged himself twice in the ward, but was saved by a young nurse and a friend who was with her.
Leonard Nelson, 20, was detained in Bourda Street on Wednesday, shortly after fleeing from the burning Observation Ward.
He has since been detained at the East Ruimveldt Police Outpost, but his mother says that she has since approached the courts to have him transferred to the psychiatric hospital in Berbice, where he can get the treatment he needs.
Some reports indicate that the youth set a mattress alight after another patient attacked him.
However, Abiola Nelson said that a GPHC nurse told her that the patient who had assaulted her son started the fire, while her son heaped mattresses on the blaze.
The Male and Female Observation Wards and the Outpatient Department were destroyed by the blaze.
Nelson said that her son has been “in and out” of the Observation Ward for about two months, after he suddenly began showing signs of mental illness.
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