A High Court judge has issued a plea for the revamping of the Prison Services which he says will protect the safety of both inmates and staff and prevent costly civil litigation over human rights abuses. Justice Frank Seepersad made the call yesterday as he awarded over $100,000 to two prisoners— Tesfer Jones and Fabian La Roche —who were beaten by prisons officers at Golden Grove, Arouca, on the same day in October 2007.
Describing the current rules and regulations governing the Prison Services as archaic, Seepersad called on the Government to address urgently the situation, as he warned it had the potential to spill over prison walls if left unchanged.
As part of his recommendations for reform, Seepersad suggested besides more intensive training, prisons officers should undergo periodic physical and emotional assessments to ensure their harsh working conditions were not having a detrimental psychological effect on them. “It may very well be that if these officers were properly trained they would not allow themselves to overstep the parameters of their authority,” Seepersad said.
Seepersad also said once reforms had been instituted for the entire prison system, the Government might consider forcing prisons officers, who use unreasonable force against inmates, to foot the bill in prison litigation cases. “At the end of the day, it is taxpayers who bear the brunt of these awards. Funds that could be used for healthcare, education and national security are being diverted to pay damages to prisoners on whom unjustifiable force is being inflicted,” Seepersad said.
In his oral judgment, Seepersad awarded Jones a total of $60,000, with La Roche receiving $70,000. Jones is awaiting trial for murder, while La Roche is serving a 17-year sentence he received when he was convicted of manslaughter in May last year. Although Jones’ injuries and beating were worse than La Roche’s, Seepersad ruled he was entitled to less as there were inconsistencies in his claim and there was evidence that his beating was provoked.
According to the evidence, on October 16, 2007, Jones was reportedly involved in an argument with prisons officer Joseph Prieto, when he hurled a bucket containing urine and faeces at the prisons officer. Jones’ beating began when the baton-wielding members of the Emergency Response Unit were summoned to force the defiant prisoner to clean up the mess.
While Seepersad ruled that the officers’ attack on Jones was justified when he initially resisted them, he ruled that their actions were excessive in continuing the beating for over five minutes. “There was evidence that he was still struck on the ground when he was cleaning up the mess,” Seepersad said. A short while after Jones was beaten, La Roche claimed he was attacked by the same group of officers, who were searching cells for contraband items.