The Guyana Police Force on Sunday reported that Stephan Howard who was arrested for armed robbery and was in custody at the Brickdam Police Station had lit a piece of toilet paper to ward off mosquitoes which accidentally ignited a mattress in the cell.
“When questioned today, related that upon entering the Brickdam lockups yesterday (2023-7-15), he discovered a lighter and a piece of toilet paper inside of the cell, and due to mosquitoes biting him, he lit the piece of toilet paper around 06:40hrs this morning and placed same on the cell door,” the police stated.
The release added that about 10 minutes later, Howard realised that the toilet paper had fallen on the mattress on the floor of the cell, and the mattress ignited into flames, which he successfully extinguished by throwing water from a plastic bottle he had.
“Stephan Howard then shouted out during the interview, stating that the Police should do what they had to do since he had nothing more to say. An ‘entry’ was made in the Station Diary to this effect. He also refused to put his story in writing and also refused to go on a video interview,” the release stated.
Investigations are ongoing.
