A convicted prisoner who failed to report to his cell when the prison bells were rung to end the afternoon recreation on Saturday, is under investigation as authorities try to determine whether he was planning to escape from the Coronation Road penal institution.
Acting Superintendent of Prisons, Lt. Col. Eugene Phillip, told OBSERVER media that prison officials are conducting the probe to determine whether the criminal had heard the bell but refused to return to his cell; whether, as he claimed, he did not hear it and was just ‘liming;’ whether he was hiding in the old kitchen area where he was found hours later; or whether he was hoping his disappearance would go unnoticed and he would have been able to slip out the jail when night fell.
He said it could have been any one of the scenarios. The prison chief said the inmate has not been charged with any offence and the probe will help determine the next step forward.
Sources at the jail told OBSERVER media that authorities realised the inmate was missing between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday when all the inmates who had been released from their cells for recreation were told it was time to return.
All the inmates, except one, were accounted for, prompting an immediate lockdown and search inside and around the jail.
Hours later, the inmate was found in what used to be the kitchen area, which is no longer in use. He was reportedly questioned, then returned to his cell and locked in while the probe continued.
The inmate is serving a five-year-jail sentence.