An inmate charged with the 2009 armed robbery of 18 tourists at Earth Village escaped from custody while seeking medical attention at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
This is the second time an inmate escaped from PMH while under prison guard in just over two months.
Remanded inmate Frederick Green, alias Frederick Neely, allegedly escaped from the hospital’s chest ward through a window around 4:00am yesterday. Green is facing two armed robbery charges but has no criminal convictions, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s Prisons (HMP).
One prison officer was watching Green who was restrained at the ankles, said HMP Superintendent Dr. El1iston Rahming.
The guard left the inmate briefly to use the restroom and when he returned he found that Green had allegedly escaped, Rahming added. “Upon his return, mysteriously, the inmate had gone. The officer was able to see the inmate, I understand, get into a vehicle which is a matter of curiosity to me for sure,” Rahming said.
Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest said a police investigation was underway to find Green. HMP has launched an internal review into the alleged escape, according to officials.
“We are very concerned because a prisoner should not be able to escape,” Turnquest said during an interview at his office in the Ministry of National Security.
Turnquest said it would be ideal for two prison officers to watch inmates who are seeking medical care outside of HMP, but resources were stretched thin yesterday. “We would like to get to the stage where we’re able to have two prison officers guard inmates at the hospital [but] we had more than just that inmate at the hospital. There were at least two others [there] and I’m advised that we had prison officers elsewhere. We also had a situation where we had to move around prison [guards] on that midnight shift,” said Turnquest.
Gregory Archer, head of the Prison Officers Association, yesterday maintained that the guard in question
did what he could to secure the inmate.
He faulted officials for not having two prison officers scheduled to watch Green yesterday.
“He did his job in spite of the fact that another officer should have been there with him,” Archer said.
“If I have to use the bathroom and I’m watching the inmate, should I carry the inmate with me? To ensure
that these incidents don’t happen we need two officers whenever officers are carrying inmates to hospital.”
On December 13, 2011, inmate Dorion Armbrister was able to briefly escape custody through a bathroom window at PMH at 5:40am, a day after he was admitted to hospital, authorities said.
At 6;05am the prison officer who was guarding Armbrister caught up with him near Dowdeswell Street, shot the inmate in his buttocks and took him into custody, according to officials.
By: Taneka Thompson
Nassau Guardian Senior Reporter
