Dodds prisoner shot during foiled escape

An unnamed man was shot and wounded by armed guards as he tried to escape Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds in St Philip, prison boss Lieutenant Colonel John Nurse said Friday.

But prison officers said they fear the attempted escape may be “just the beginning” result of an understaffed penal institution with burnt-out warders.

Lt Col Nurse gave no details of the “fellow”, his condition, the attempted prison break or overall security, other than to confirm the man was still alive after being shot by officers.

“A fellow attempted to escape and he was shot after refusing [to obey] the orders of the officers. We are not going to discuss this anymore at this stage. We are dealing with the matter and I don’t want to talk about it,” Lt Col Nurse told Barbados TODAY.

But multiple sources have told Barbados TODAY that the inmate was being escorted by a female officer back to his living quarters without restraints, and he tried to run off the compound.

“We are severely understaffed,” one prison officer complained. “We are not allowed to flex, and when you do work overtime you are not being paid and officers are severely burnt out…. stressed out, and these things are going to happen. And I do pray that nothing worse happens because this is just the beginning.”

Ever since the maximum-security prison at Dodds opened in 2007, no one has escaped from inside the jail house.

While this is said to be the first time anyone tried to escape from the St Philip jail, Barbados TODAY understands there have been two attempts to break free from the prison farm.

In December 2018, a man whose name was given as Robert Harris had tried to break away from the farmhouse which is located on the St Philip compound.

Then Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson, who was minister in charge of the penal institution at the time, said the man was quickly apprehended with canine dogs.

The last successful jailbreak was in 1999 when the infamous Winston Hall escaped from the former Glendairy Prison on Station Hill.
(EJ)