Escaped prisoner goes back to court

Oct 08, 2008 News

Teon Smith, 18, of Annandale, East Coast Demerara, was yesterday remanded to prison after he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

It is alleged that the accused escaped from lawful custody last Thursday after he was remanded to prison on 14 counts of robbery under arms. Smith ended up on the streets hours after he was remanded to prison by the Acting Chief Magistrate.

Teon Smith, who also goes by several other aliases, was rearrested when police tracked him to West Ruimveldt.

Investigations had revealed that the prisoner was registered at the Georgetown Prisons, after records showed that he was taken to the facility from the Magistrates Court. The suspect was arrested on Monday at the scene of an armed robbery. He was already fingered in a series of robberies in Linden and in Georgetown.

Kaieteur News understands that shortly after he was remanded, he had boasted that he would “be out on the streets” within few hours.

Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, in response to queries, had told this newspaper that the prisoner might have been mistaken for a carpenter.

He said that carpenters were at the Georgetown Prisons doing remedial works at the time the prisoner slipped out. The director said that inmates had complained about the prisoner’s foul scent, causing Smith to be separated from them.

It was only when the prison officers were ready to register Smith that they discovered that he was missing. The ranks at the prisons then informed the Alberttown Police Station of the prisoner’s escape.

Reports are that the police went to the area, and lo and behold the suspect was there. When questioned, he reportedly told police that he simply walked out of the prison.