Officers on duty during Mazaruni jailbreak being questioned – Prison Director

— as search continues for escaped prisoners

The prison officers who were on duty on Tuesday night when four high-profile inmates escaped from the Mazaruni Prison in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) are being questioned by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
“Officers who would have worked the night period, they are all assisting with the investigation at the moment,” Director of Prisons (ag), Nicklon Elliot, told <<Guyana Times>> on Wednesday when contacted for an update on the jailbreak.
Asked whether there is any suspicion of collusion between the officers who had been on duty and the escaped prisoners, the Prison Director posited that this would be determined by the probe.
“Currently, the matter is being investigated by the Police and the prisons…we’ll have to wait until the investigation determines if there was collusion, and what level of collusion there (was, if any at all),” Elliot contended.
Meanwhile, the Prison Director noted that the search for the four escapees is still continuing, and that the Joint Services and patrol teams are following several leads.
Elliot confirmed that the authorities had received information that the prisoners might have stolen a boat from a nearby village to aid in their escape.
“A team has since been dispatched to the area to confirm with [persons in the village] if that’s true or not,” he further related.
Those who escaped are 25-year-old Imran Ramsaywack of Adelphi Village, East Canje Berbice; 44-year-old Kenrick Lyte, whose last known address was Grant Good Intent, Lower Pomeroon River; 22-year-old Samuel Gouveia of Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and 22-year-old Rayon Jones of Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Ramsaywack and Lyte were on Death Row, while Gouveia and Jones were convicted of manslaughter. The four prisoners made their escape from the maximum-security prison at about 07:00h on Tuesday.
Police have since issued wanted bulletins for the men, who will now each face an ‘escaping from lawful custody’ charge.
The Guyana Prison Service has explained that, at about 07:15hrs on Tuesday, during the unlocking of the Brick Prison (Solitary Division) supervised by the duty officer and four other ranks, it was observed that the padlock to the entrance gate was tampered with, and further checks revealed that two bars within the cell were cut.
Nevertheless, the Guyana Police Force, in its efforts to recapture the inmates, is appealing to members of the public, including relatives and friends of the wanted men, to give the Police any relevant information in regard to the whereabouts of these escapees, so that they can be captured and returned to the prison.
Also, an appeal is being made to the escapees to surrender to the Police or to relevant authority, to avoid any serious confrontation that is likely to result in the use of force.
The Police Force assures that all information provided would be treated with a high degree of confidence, and also the rights of those escapees would be respected and upheld.
Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Imran Ramsaywack, Kenrick Lyte, Samuel Gouveia and/or Ryan Jones is asked to contact the Police on telephone numbers 455-2238, 455-2222, 226-4585, 225-2700, 911, or at the nearest Police station.