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Inmates using cell phones to plot crimes in prison
– Minister Benn urges authorities to address issue at ongoing conference
Kaieteur News – Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn has acknowledged that some inmates are making use of illegal cell phones in prison to plot and execute crimes and urged the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) to address such issues at its annual officer’s conference which opened on Thursday.
Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn
Benn was at the time delivering the feature address at the conference’s opening ceremony being held at the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Officer’s training centre at Camp Road, Georgetown. While explaining that prisoners have rights, Benn said, “I don’t want them (inmates) laying about in prison all day doing nothing.” He added that some of them are plotting their next move from inside the prison. “Men not doing anything everyday, vegetating, some of them plotting their next move, some of them even executing the moves from the prison by the use of cell phones which somehow they get in the prisons along with marijuana”, Benn said. “We need to work those issues. We Know those challenges”, continued Minister Benn while urging the prison authorities to use the conference to address the short comings. “This meeting, this conference should provide the opportunity for frank discussions on these issues. We must be frank even when we would have failings ourselves personally in terms of our management in the way we execute things”, Benn said during his feature address.
Inmate plotting crimes in prison could have serious repercussions and Guyana had witnessed the blood bath it caused after five prisoners escaped on February 23, 2002 from the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown. It is believed that the five men: Dale Moore, Shawn Brown, Troy Dick, Andrew Douglas and Mark Frazer had plotted their escape long before they shot their out of the prison on Republic Day-a National holiday when Guyanese would celebrate Mashramani in the streets.
Not only did they kill a prison guard during the prison break but their actions sparked a crime wave that lasted at least four years and resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives. According to a Stabroek News Investigative report, a total of 420 persons were killed between February 2002 and September 2006. Some 131 persons were murdered by bandits while 239 others were killed during confrontations and unexplained circumstances. Thirty security officers were slaughtered during the bloody period. Apart from highlighting that inmates are plotting crimes in prisons, Benn told prison officers that they are human beings and also have rights. The minister said that hitting an inmate must only be a last resort to prevent a situation from getting out of order and bring things under control.
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