The Barbados Prison Service will continue to review its safety protocols to reduce the possibility of inmates escaping.
Superintendent of Prisons DeCarlo Payne gave that assurance yesterday as he expressed concern that convicted murderer Kishon Thomas was still on the run after he fled while seeking treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on May 2.
Payne said they were doing their best to help recapture the escapee.
“I am not one who would shy away from the realities of life. Any escape is one too many, so I am very concerned about it. We are constantly reviewing our protocols. We have a system in place where we identify high-risk individuals and those individuals are escorted out of the compound under different circumstances. It’s a constant work in progress.
“Once they follow the protocols that we have in place, that will minimise these incidents,” the prison chief told reporters at Dodds Prison, St Philip, after a graduation ceremony for an agricultural programme for prison officers.
Payne said they were working with the Barbados Police Service to trace the 26-year-old inmate.
“All the intelligence and all the information that we are receiving we are passing that onto the police as well, so they are progressing in terms of the attempts to recapture that individual,” he said.
Last weekend, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said that those who were responsible for any negligence that contributed to Thomas’ escape had to explain why the safety protocols were not followed.
He indicated that high-risk prisoners such as Thomas should have been handcuffed and shackled.
“There are protocols in place that govern the transport of prisoners, especially high-risk prisoners and prisoners going for medical treatment. It is clear that they were not followed. So, it’s not a matter of putting new protocols in place, it’s a matter of getting to the bottom of why the protocols were not followed and the persons responsible will have to answer for that,” he said.
Internal investigation
Abrahams said there was an ongoing internal investigation regarding what occurred at the QEH on May 2.
On that probe, Payne told the media yesterday: “I wouldn’t be in a position to speak to where the investigation is at this time. I know that the majority of the staff who were identified as persons to give statements would’ve given statements, but I haven’t seen the investigative report as yet.”
Thomas, 26, also known by the aliases ‘Pappy’, ‘Paps’ and ‘Tom’, was last seen driving a silver APV van, registration M7730, towards Carrington Village. The vehicle was found.
Only two days prior to his dash for freedom, he had been found guilty of the July 2017 murder of Colleen Beresdean Payne, who was using an automatic teller machine in Black Rock, St Michael.
His escape followed the September 2024 dash that prisoner Rashad Kangalee made while he was in custody and visiting the QEH.
In July 2024, Mario Austin was in the custody of prison officials at the time of his escape from the hospital.
During a recent press conference, chief executive officer at the QEH Neil Clark also expressed his concern about the frequency of these incidents.
“We are arranging to meet with the prison officers because I am concerned about the number of times this happens. It puts an added pressure on our departments, that suddenly we’ve got a prisoner who’s running loose or escaping in the building or out of the building. So, we are going to have a meeting with the prison officers and understand how we can manage this better.
“It happens too often, and we need to make it safer for our staff,” Clark added. (TG)
