Two days after four inmates of the Lusignan Prison escaped from the facility, the police are yet to recapture any of them but Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels stated that the search efforts have been intensified.
The prisoners that escaped from the Lusignan facility
The four escapees are Anthony Padmore, 26, of Ogle Street, Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, who was serving a three-year sentence for trafficking in cannabis; Sasenarine Bisnauth of Lot 22 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), who was charged with armed robbery; 32-year-old Ganesh Dhanraj of Parika Façade, EBE, and Kenraul Perez, 26, of Mabaruma, North West District, Region One, who were both charged for the capital offence of murder.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Samuels stated that efforts have been boosted to recapture the four escapees. The Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service have all been making stringent efforts to recapture the men.
“What I can say is efforts are still been made to recapture them, we have not been successful as yet,” Samuels noted.
After the men escaped on Monday, the Guyana Prison Service confirmed that the inmates escaped at about 03:46h during the heavy downpours but the official discovery was made during roll-call at 06:15h when they did not answer to their names.
Nevertheless, the CCTV recordings from surveillance cameras proved that the men escaped by jumping the eastern fence.
The ranks on duty at the time of the incident have been interrogated and are cooperating fully with the police and prison authorities. Thus far, no rank has been found culpable or would have aided in the escape of the men.
Over the past years, several persons have escaped from the Lusignan Penitentiary but have subsequently been recaptured. In 2017, 35-year-old alleged rapist Dellon Blake, of Kumuni Creek, Demerara River, used his bed sheet and wooden pallets to climb over the fence of the prison.
It was reportedly done in full view of Police ranks who were performing duties in the guard hut tower overlooking the new holding facility. Blake was charged for the rape of an elderly woman.
In 2018, three prisoners escaped by also scaling the fence between towers three and four which were equipped with security personnel.
They were 23-year-old Travis Evans of C Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown; Sudesh Dyal, 23, of Wales Backdam and Dexroy Pollard, 29, of Wales. Evans is a murder accused.
It was reported that the three men had taken a considerable amount of time to make their way through the razor wire.
“It is clear, especially taking into consideration the close proximity of the two towers and the number of ranks deployed in those two towers that those ranks were not alert,” Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels had stated back then.
In addition, following the fire in 2017 at the Camp Street Penitentiary, the Lusignan Prison was used as a holding facility with several holding areas.
However, after a few days at the facility, 13 inmates had escaped by digging a hole under the perimeter fence. The hole was about five feet in length and another five feet deep.
Paul Goriah, whose last known address was given as Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara, was the only person who was not recaptured and remains on the run to date.
