Six months after the July 9, 2017, major Camp Street Prison break and fire, two hardcore prisoners are still on the run.
However, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken told INews earlier today (Tuesday) that the search for the remaining escapees are still on-going, especially along the East Coast and East Bank Demerara areas.
“We’re still working on the clues. It’s still a work in progress,” he said during a telephone interview.
The wanted men have been identified as Paul Goriah and Cobena Stephens who were implicated in murder cases in the past.
Pandemonium broke out at the Camp Street Prison on July 9 when prisoners set the facility on fire, occasioning its destruction with the exception of a brick building in the compound which remained intact and, after renovations, is now housing “hard core” prisoners.
In the ensuing confusion, a number of prisoners managed to escape from lawful custody, including convicted murderer Mark Royden Durant, also called “Royden Williams”; Uree Varswyck and Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander, among others.
That incident also resulted in the death of Prison Officer Odinga Wickham, who was shot by prisoners during the breakout.
Following that jailbreak, over 1000 prisoners were displaced.
While some were moved to the Mazaruni Prison or granted early release or bail, others remained at the Lusignan penitentiary under straightened circumstances.
It was then that another contingent of prisoners escaped.
Since these two jailbreaks, all but two prison escapees – Goriah and Stephens – have either been recaptured or killed. (Ramona Luthi)
