[UPDATED] HACKSAW TO FREEDOM

A hacksaw blade smuggled from one of the workshops intended to rehabilitate inmates at the Youth Training Centre (YTC), Arouca, is believed to have been used by five teenage murder suspects to access their freedom early yesterday morning.

The five suspects – Anthony Ramsumair, Shakeel Brian Seepersad, Darren Scott, Dillano Marcano and Jaden Fletcher – reportedly escaped custody by sawing away the bottom of steel bars on the window of their rooms, sometime between Wednesday night and early yesterday morning.

They were discovered missing by guards at around 2.05 am.

Prisons Commissioner Gerard Wilson said he visited YTC yesterday. He explained that it was not designed as a prison, with cells, and the rooms were built as dormitories for teens.

“It doesn’t operate as a prison, it’s more like a rehabilitation centre.

“When they left the building they got to the fence area and dug a hole. It’s designed as a cage, so they couldn’t climb over it. They crawled underneath, climbed above the roof and got off somewhere around the eastern side of the facility, using the rain as cover.”

Wilson also said he suspected part of the reason for the escape may have been for Ramsumair to avoid being transferred to the Golden Grove Remand Facility, as he recently turned 19, passing the age limit for detention at the YTC.

“He didn’t go to court on Monday, and that’s why he was still at the centre. We don’t know if that might have been a factor in him wanting to escape.”

Wilson said there have been ten escape attempts from prison facilities from January to date, eight of them from remand facilities.

The teens are originally from Diego Martin, Princes Town, Arima and Penal.

Various police divisions have been put on high alert to search for them.

Newsday also spoke to Ramsumair’s mother Lilla Mohammed, who said she was distraught at learning of her son’s escape and urged him to surrender.

“Right now I just feeling like I could fall down. I got the news and I don’t know what to say, really. His father and I are separated, but he heard the news as well.

“If I could talk to my son now, I would advise him to turn himself in, because if the police are running him down, they could kill him,”

Mohammed said since escaping her son has not attempted to make contact with her.

Newsday also spoke to Helen Stephen, the mother of escapee Darren Scott, who said she got the news while waiting for a taxi to work. She also appealed for her son to turn himself in and said while he has not contacted her or other relatives, she wishes he would.

“He just wants to be home, to be free. He just wants to be with his family.

“I really hope he tries to make contact with us, because I want to know what’s going on with him.

“Darren, wherever you are, just give up yourself. (Staying at large) will just make things more worse. Come in, please, I’m begging you. Do it for your mother, for the love of your family.

She also had a message for the authorities. “I know he is innocent and he didn’t do anything to anybody. Please don’t harm my son! He is very innocent. He was there when it happened but he never killed anyone.”

Like Mohammed, Stephen also called on the authorities to exercise restraint if they confronted her son.

This story was originally published with the title "Prisons Commissioner: YTC five cut bars to escape" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Five teen inmates of the Youth Training Centre (YTC) in Arouca sawed their way to freedom using a hacksaw blade smuggled from one of the workshops aimed at rehabilitating them.

Newsday spoke to Commissioner of Prisons Gerard Wilson, who confirmed the boys used the tool to cut one of the bars of the room in which they were held.

He said rather than having cells, the YTC was a rehabilitation centre, where inmates are housed in rooms designed as dormitories.

Wilson also said once outside the building the five dug a hole beneath the chain link fence surrounding it and escaped.

"They would have used a hacksaw to cut the bottom of the bar.

"It doesn't operate as a prison, it's more like a rehabilitation centre. When they left the building they got to the fence area and dug a hole.

"It's designed as a cage so they couldn't climb over it. They crawled underneath, climbed above the roof and got off somewhere around the eastern side of the facility, using the rain as cover."

Wilson said all five were detained for murder . The police have contacted the relatives of the escapees and encouraged them to have them surrender if the escapees contact them.

He said in the case of Anthony Ramsumair, who turned 19 last Thursday, the courts were asked to issue a warrant sending him to the Golden Grove Remand Facility instead of keeping him in YTC.

"He didn't go to court on Monday, and that's why he was still at the centre. We don't know if that might have been a factor in him wanting to escape."

Wilson said there have been ten escape attempts from prison facilities from January to date, eight of them from remand facilities.