Prison count down to 428 inmates at end of 2011 criminal assizes

With the exit of remanded prisoner Lisa Ballantyne, the number of persons housed at Her Majesty’s Prisons at the end of the 2011 criminal assizes dropped to 428.{{more}}

This was the final figure given by Brian Andrews, a senior officer at the institution, as he gave the prison status report, which came on the last day of the assizes.

Andrews had to adjust his figures at the last minute, when presiding judge Justice Frederick Bruce-Lyle set free Lisa Ballantyne, who was facing the charge of murder of her boyfriend Delano David, and released after a guilty plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

In breaking down the numbers, Andrews revealed that there are 296 men who are serving sentences at the prison situated in Kingstown, while there are 119 on remand.

Six women are serving sentences and seven are on remand, at the Women’s prison at Fort Charlotte, Edinboro.

181 of the men were sentenced through the Magistrate’s Court, while 115 were sentenced through the High Court. Of the females, three were sentenced by the High Court and three through the Magistrate’s Court.

There are four males awaiting sentencing, and 57 waiting to be tried, while 62 are awaiting preliminary Investigation (PI). Three females are awaiting trial and four are awaiting PI.

The court learned that there were 39 males awaiting trial for murder and 19 awaiting PIs for murder.

Andrews indicated that there were 11 non nationals (3 Trinidadians, 2 Grenadians, 1 Barbadian, 1 Guyanese, 4 St. Lucians) serving sentences here; five awaiting PI (2 Trinidadians, 1 St. Lucian, 1 Bermudan, 1 Barbadian), and 11 awaiting trial (10 Trinidadians, 1 Barbadian).

Two inmates (Shorn Samuel and Patrick Lovelace) are currently on death row.

Andrews also pointed out that the issue concerning one inmate who had escaped custody had been ‘settled’, and when asked by Justice Bruce-Lyle when the inmates will be moved to the new facility at Belle Isle, he stated that the date had not been finalized, since there was some work that was still taking place there.(JJ)