Following his capture after escaping custody, prisoner Roger Rommell Stephen Sealy told police that he had fled in fear for his life.
The 38-year-old resident of Scotts Gap, Brittons Hill, St Michael, previously pleaded guilty to the charge that, being a prisoner in lawful custody of the Barbados Prison Service, Dodds, he did escape without the use of force on January 18, 2022.
State Counsel Paul Prescod read the convict’s statement in the No. 4 Supreme Court before Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell on Wednesday.
In his statement, Sealy told police that he had seen a man he knew standing by the door of the Physiotherapy Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), who was watching him “hard”. He told the prison officer, “I don’t like how that man there watching me because he is a gunman and I get charge for he years ago – wounding him. That man like he on a vibe”, and the officer told him to relax. Sealy stated that later, when he and the officer went to the gym, the man entered, went into the bathroom and half-cracked the door and was fidgeting in the area of his waist.
“When I see that, I figured that he wanted to do me something. For that reason, I became uneasy, and when I looked around, I did not see the officer. I looked back and saw him peeping, so I undo the door and ran out, looked back and saw him running out the bathroom and the officer running behind me, so I keep running. I never ran to abscond. I ran to save my life because I was scared of (the man),” he said.
Prescod said after the police carried out investigations into the allegation, no evidence was found that the man mentioned by Sealy was on the hospital compound that day.
Sealy had been arrested and charged with aggravated burglary and endangering life in August 2021. During the commission of those offences, he sustained a gunshot injury to his right leg. He subsequently appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and was remanded into custody.
Around 10:30 a.m. on the date of his escape, he had been escorted by prison officer Alexis Bailey to the QEH’s Physiotherapy Department and his foot restraints were removed to allow him to do exercises.
The officer then stood by the door leading to the reception/waiting area, which was about eight feet away from Sealy. The physiotherapist left the room briefly while Sealy continued to do the exercises under the watch of the prison officer. About 30 minutes into the exercises, Sealy suddenly ran towards a solid wooden door at the end of the recreation room, kicked it open and ran into the car park at the back of the hospital. Bailey pursued him across the car park, towards fencing near River Road. Sealy climbed the fence, went through a small opening at the top, and jumped onto River Road with the officer, who had injured his left knee after jumping onto the road, in pursuit.
Bailey told persons nearby to “Stop that man for me”, but no one assisted.
Sealy ran onto Prince William Street, saw a bicycle and rode off on it. The owner of the bicycle, Everton Gilkes shouted at him to stop but Sealy made good his escape.
Bailey raised the alarm by contacting police and a collaborative search began for the escaped prisoner.
Later that evening, around 6:35 p.m., police officers were conducting traffic checks along the Clapham, St Michael area and spotted Sealy sitting in the passenger seat of a motor car. He attempted to exit but was arrested by officers and taken into custody.
Justice Smith-Bovell ordered a pre-sentence report
for the self-represented man and adjourned the matter until May 9.
