Following his family’s advice to meet with his attorneys before testifying, condemned inmate Forrester Bowe failed to appear as a witness in the Coroner’s Inquest as expected yesterday.
The inquest into the deaths of prison officer Dion Bowles and prison inmate Neil Brown is into its third week. The two were killed during a violent break from Her Majesty’s Prison on January 16.
According to Rodney Moncur, Bowe’s cousin, who is the spokesperson for the family, to date there has been no response from the Ministry of National Security indicating whether an attorney would be allowed to visit the inmate or if he would be granted permission to sign an attached letter confirming the appointment of Fred Smith as his attorney.
But Prison Superintendent Dr. Elliston Rahming told The Bahama Journal on Friday that the inmates are free to have access to their families and attorneys during visitation periods at the prison.
Coroner Linda Virgill has advised the inmates that they do not have to testify in the proceedings but that if they do, the evidence could and may be used against them.
“Because of this, we are strongly objecting to Forrester Bowe giving any evidence,” Mr. Moncur told the press only moments after six shackled and handcuffed inmates were hauled back to Her Majesty’s Prison.
Five of the inmates testified Wednesday in the inquest.
The other inmate, Dion Desmond Pierre, testified in closed chambers. Coroner Virgill said the court was not prepared to reveal details of his testimony “at this time.”
One by one, the inmates, all of whom occupy cells in the C-block of the Maximum Security wing, shuffled into the court to recount what they recalled taking place leading up to the prison break.
The testimonies of inmates Peter Cash, Robert Green, Wesley Gieste, Leslie Webster and Michael Edwards had one common thread running through them – the prisoners all denied knowing anything about the escape plot.
But the witnesses did provide the court with some clarification on a few gray areas.
Green told the court that on one occasion, he and Brown had a conversation about the prison’s cameras in terms of how the lens worked.
When questioned further, Green admitted to the court that he was involved in an incident with the camera system before in which he tampered with it to blur the guards’ vision.
Both inmates Parcoi and Corey Hepburn have denied being the masterminds behind the escape plot, instead pointing the finger at Brown.
Next up on the witness box was Gieste, who occupies C18. He testified that he was awakened by a shuffling sound like footsteps.
Gieste said about 20 minutes later he heard what sounded like glass breaking.
“When I looked to the left, I saw a human form on the ground and an inmate was calling an officer for help,” the witness said.
He also testified hearing a voice call out “Top Cat”, a nickname given to Hepburn.
Gieste said he tried asking the person, whom he later identified as Bowles, who he was, but received no response.
He said he also asked “the body” if he’d be alright, a question to which the body responded “I’ll be alright.”
When pressed on the issue, Gieste told the court that while the voiced seemed to come from the body, it was one that he had not heard before. He admitted that he was familiar with Top Cat’s voice, but could not say the same when it came to Bowe, Parcoi and Brown.
According to Michael Edwards, shortly after waking up around 3:11am, he heard either Bowe or Brown call out to him, urging that he call Sergeant Stephen Sands into the area.
“One of them said they wanted some water warmed. I said it’s too early to start this kind of foolishness, to be calling people. So I didn’t call anyone,” Edwards said.
“When Sands came back in the block after making the check with (Principal Officer Gregory) Rolle, I heard him say, ‘I coming back. I can’t come through now. I have to go to the PO’s office’. He said he would send Bowles to assist.”
Edwards said he assumed Sergeant Sands was speaking to Bowe, but was not completely certain.
The witness said it was only minutes later that Corporal Bowles “came through and went down by Neil those.”
“All of a sudden, I saw persons’ feet running past my cell-I decided to see what was going on. I saw the back of a person toting a bench outside. I could only recognize Neil; the next person was back on.”
While on the stand the prisoners also requested Coroner Virgill look into “the inhumane and cruel treatment” at Her Majesty’s Prison.
The men all claimed they were being oppressed, abused, denied access to medical attention and basic rights.
The judge told them to put their complaints in writing.
Mr. Moncur told reporters his family is now forced to write the International Red Cross and Amnesty International decrying the Fox Hill facility’s conditions.
“Clearly, the reports that we are getting from Her Majesty’s Prison on a daily basis, say that the prison itself has become a crime scene and the police should really go in there and investigate these complaints of abuse,” Mr. Moncur charged.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
