PRISON AUTHORITIES have confirmed launching an internal investigation into a foiled escape bid on Wednesday by a prisoner remanded to Her Majesty’s Prisons, Dodds, St Philip.
A senior official told the SATURDAY SUN yesterday that a disguised Jabari Johnson, 21, of 3rd Avenue East, Husbands Gardens, St James, was nabbed at the exit of the prison as he attempted to dupe security into opening the gate for him.
The official said Johnson was taken to the medical unit for a psychological assessment and left unattended. He then allegedly came into possession of a nurse’s outfit, raincoat and a broom. He cleaned a section of the facility and reached as far as the exit, where he asked for the door to be opened to clean the outer area. However, one of the guards recognized him as a prisoner.
“What is mystifying and the major concern is why he was left unattended and how he managed to get the items he had from a secured area,” the prison official said.
Remanded
Johnson was remanded to the prison last Monday by Magistrate Douglas Frederick at the Bridgetown Traffic Court after appearing on indictable charges of causing serious bodily harm to Judah Bowen with intent on November 12, 2009; wounding Lewis Gonsalves with intent on March 25; and escaping from the Criminal Investigation Department without the use of force on March 26. Gonsalves remains hospitalized with a fractured skull. Johnson is scheduled to return to court on April 21.
This is the second occasion in four weeks that the alertness of prison officials has stopped an escape bid.
On February 22 a search by warders resulted in a letter being found on murder accused Dwayne Omar Alleyne outlining plans for an escape bid either from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) or the precincts of the Holetown Magistrates’ Court.
The plan involved Alleyne feigning sickness and an attempt being made by others to free him at the QEH, or an armed siege at the St James court, where an effort would have been made to free him during the ensuing melee.
Police and prison authorities have since put enhanced security measures in place for Alleyne’s court appearances.
Efforts to reach prison chief Lieutenant Colonel John Nurse for comment yesterday were unsuccessful. (WG)
