Murder accused found dead in Camp Street cell

Jul 30, 2013 News

By Latoya Giles
Murder accused Brian Blount, who allegedly slit a man’s throat earlier this year, was found dead at the Camp Street Prison at around 23:15 hrs on Sunday.
Blount, of Old England, Linden, was reportedly found lifeless in his cell some hours after he had staged a one-man protest on the prison rooftop.
Conflicting reports have since surfaced about the circumstances surrounding his death.
According to a statement from Prison officials, Blount, who was on remand for murder, was found hanging in a cell about 23:15hrs on Sunday. The release stated that Blount had last attended Court at Linden on July 22, 2013 and was returned to the Georgetown Prison on July 24, 2013.
“On his return to prison, a search was conducted on his person and five parcels of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis sativa was found in the hollow section of three cakes of “blue soap” which he had in his possession,” the release stated. The matter was reported to the Police.
Prison officials said that Blount was last seen alive at about 21:50 hours on July 28, 2013 by Prison Officers on a routine visit to the Division. But some sources within the prison alleged that Blount was severely beaten by several prison officers.
It is said that the beating stemmed from Blount being on the roof of the prison to stage a protest. And there seems to be some mix up about the identity of the prisoner. Kaieteur News was told that the body was identified as Ian Braithwaite.
This newspaper was told that relatives turned up at the Lyken Funeral Home, did the identification. According to a relative who spoke to Kaieteur News, the man lived at D’Urban Street.
This Braithwaite had been in the jail for attempted murder. News spread that he too had been on the roof staging a protest.
The one consistent thing was that several prison officers, including one senior rank, went to the man who is now dead and who was in the solitary confinement and began beating him. The sources said that the inmate’s screams were clearly heard by other prisoners. Kaieteur News was told that Blount’s body was taken to the Georgetown Hospital, before going to the Lyken Funeral Home.
Blount had made a court appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts earlier in the year to answer to the capital charge, which alleged that between March 10 and March 11, 2012, he murdered Ernest Persaud at Old England, Linden.
It was reported that Blount and Persaud were known to each other and on March 10, 2012, they were in a house when Blount accused the other man of having an affair with his wife. An altercation ensued between the two men during which the accused armed himself with a knife and slit Persaud’s throat before dumping him in the Demerara River.
Persaud was found floating in the river the following day. Investigations led to the accused being arrested and he admitted to the crime.
Back in 2008, prisoner Edwin Niles was allegedly beaten by two senior prison officers. He too died.
Niles, 34, of Guyhoc Park succumbed to injuries he sustained after reportedly receiving a sound beating when he was found with a quantity of ammunition at the Camp Street prisons. He was reported to have had seven .22 rounds of ammunition in his possession after returning to the prison from a day of labour at Camp Ayanganna.
He was hospitalized for nine days before he died. He was serving a three-year sentence for narcotics possession and would have been released sometime this month. A statement from the police had said that the man was admitted to the GPHC following reports that he had been beaten after he was found with the ammunition.
According to a post-mortem report Niles died as a result of a blood clot in the lungs due to burns about the back, and a fractured left arm.
Niles’s death attracted much public comment as it relates to interrogation methods and the conduct of the disciplined services. It was thought that he was severely beaten as the prison officers were concerned about a possible bloody plot to break out of the Camp Street jail.
Assistant Superintendent Kurt Corbin and Gladwin Samuels were both charged with manslaughter.
The matter was heard before then Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson, who ruled that enough evidence existed for the accused to stand trial in the High Court. That trial is yet to begin.

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