Prisoner sues State for alleged prison beating

A prisoner who was incarcerated in the condemned section of the Port of Spain Prison has sued the State for compensation for an alleged beating he received from prison guards in 2013.

Darryl Bissoon, 32, one of two men who was convicted in 2011, but is facing a retrial for the murder of 24-year-old construction worker Collin Delandro in 2005, claimed he was beaten by prison officers on December 12, while in the condemned section of the prison on Frederick Street.

His lawsuit came up for hearing yesterday before Justice Kevin Ramcharan in the Port of Spain High Court. The judge will give his decision on September 30.

Bissoon is represented by attorneys Gerald Ramdeen and Darryl Heeralal.

According to Bissoon, he was in his cell when then Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart and Supt Shamsudeen Mohammed walked past, and he called out to the commissioner to ask him something, but was ignored.

He said he made a remark to another prisoner in the cell opposite, about how people when they “get powers they doesn’t want to hear nobody,” and Stewart turned around, called him an idiot and then cursed him.

Bissoon claimed the commissioner told a prison officer to open his cell and put him in another one next to the gallows, where prisoners are kept before they are hanged.

Bissoon said he said he was not going and the commissioner told Mohammed to call the prison’s emergency response unit (ERU).

A short while later, three ERU officers came, cuffed him in the chest and dragged him to the other cell, which contained an old bed frame with rubbish underneath and a burnt-out mobile phone case.

He said after he was put in that cell, he began complaining he was having problems breathing because of the dust and wanted to go to the infirmary. He was given a mattress, slop pail and a bottle of water. The next day, six masked officers took him out of the cell and he was strip-searched and made to squat.

Bisson said he felt ashamed. He said he was also referred to as “Bissoon the escapee” – in 2013, he escaped from the prison, was recaptured and charged with escaping legal custody – and was dragged to the toilet area and beaten. According to a hospital medical report, he suffered swelling to his face, had a swollen left eye, pain and swelling to the upper torso, stomach, back, neck and laceration to the mouth.

Testifying yesterday was acting Assistant Supt of Prisons Curtis James, who was the supervisor at the prison when Bissoon claimed he was beaten.

James said he made no report of what took place on December 12 when he was on duty because no force was used towards Bissoon. He could not testify about the other day because he was not on duty.

He said Stewart was doing a walk-through of the condemned section and Bissoon was trying to get his attention and became belligerent when he was ignored. He said Bissoon cursed Stewart, who merely instructed that he should be put in a different cell.

James said Bissoon threatened him but he did not take it seriously.

“He (Bissoon) was behaving hysterically. He probably had personal issues that day,” James said, adding he did not report the threats because it was “routine to be threatened.”

“I am still alive today, so we know that not all threats are carried out and are real,” he said.

However, he admitted he would not be surprised that there were no reports on either incident. According to James, at the time, there was a policy not to record statements in certain cases, as the names of the officers involved would be mentioned. James said there were concerns about their safety if their identities were revealed.

He could not say if the policy conformed with the prison rules, which mandate prison officers to make contemporaneous records when force is used against prisoners.

James said he was not “too pleased” by the policy, but since he was not the commissioner, he did not make administrative policies.

He also said Bissoon was considered high-risk, because he had been caught with sharp implements and had escaped from custody previously.

Also testifying was prison supervisor Burr Doman, who intervened when Bissoon allegedly lunged at one of them and tried to stab the officer. They were searching the cells at the time.

Doman said the officer who was attacked and another colleague wrestled for a short time before he intervened and struck Bissoon in the ribs.