By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Following a court order mandating that Public Safety Minister Sir Steadroy Benjamin find a suitable place to detain murder-accused schizophrenic Ziggy Beazer, Cabinet yesterday announced that a refurbished facility in Crabbs would serve as this temporary space.
The facility which once housed the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force will be staffed with a complement of personnel—including nurses—to secure the safety and well-being of both mentally ill individuals who fall foul of the law and those around them.
Mental health advocates and relatives of prisoners with mental health conditions have long demanded such people be moved out of the national prison.
Last year, Khalid Shabazz called for his son Rashawn ‘Turtle’ Shabazz to be detained at Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital, rather than prison, after he was apprehended for throwing stones and wielding a sharp weapon near the Perry Bay supermarket. The distraught father said he had been trying unsuccessfully to get his son into Clarevue prior to the incident that resulted in him being shot by police.
The Crabbs facility was also used to house prisoners recovering from Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic.
Cabinet spokesperson Melford Nicholas told reporters yesterday that the government was doing its best to address a gap in the justice system.
Asked why it had taken so long for the government to arrange alternative accommodation for detainees with mental health issues, Nicholas responded, “It’s a pertinent question and I would just say, better late than never.
“It has been part of the discussion that we have had about mental health and about the treatment of persons who have become a danger to the public and where they are housed.
“There is still a gap in the practice and I’m sure that we are not yet at the stage of full treatment of a person with mental illness, so it is a criticism that is warranted but, at the same time, the government is making moves now to correct this particular area,” he said.
Meanwhile, a prison source told Observer that the institution may struggle to find sufficient staff to help at the Crabbs facility, should they be needed to step in.