Detained senior prison officer hospitalised

SENIOR prison officer Garth Guada, detained at the army’s Teteron Barracks in Chaguaramas under the state of emergency preventative detention order, has been hospitalised.

The Port of Spain General Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department went into lockdown mode with swarms of police and army officers present.

Newsday understands Guada and another man were admitted to the hospital at about 10.30 am on October 2, after they complained of feeling “unwell.” Newsday understands the senior prison officer was said to be “severely dehydrated.”

He has also been prescribed medication, but it is not certain if he has been receiving it, or has been taking it.

Guada has complained about conditions at the barracks. However, the Ministry of Homeland Security has denied his claims. Also detained at the army’s base are close to a dozen inmates transferred from the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, since the SoE was declared on July 18, and after being deemed “high-risk” by national security authorities.

On September 22 and 23, Chief of Defence Staff Air Vice Marshal Darryl Daniel and acting Prisons Commissioner Hayden Forde submitted memos to the ministry addressing and refuting all of Guada’s allegations that his detention at Teteron Barracks was “deplorable and inhumane.”

Guada was detained on August 21 under the emergency order, accused of enabling prison breaches for gang members. His attorneys allege his detention is politically-motivated after he resisted unauthorised visits by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander to high-risk inmates at the time when he (Alexander) was still a senior member of the TTPS.

Guada’s attorneys say they are considering additional legal remedies, including judicial review and constitutional motions. He has also accused Alexander of abusing the emergency powers to detain him unlawfully.

On October 1, the Prison Officers' Association claimed that one or more high-risk inmates, transferred from the prison, recently threw faeces on a prison officer.

Acting Prisons Commissioner Hayden Forde acknowledged that an incident involving inmates occurred at a military detention facility in Chaguaramas, but said there was no official report of faeces being thrown on a prison officer.

"There is no denying that an incident took place," Forde said. "Inmates tend to get agitated, do things in lashing out. As to whether it (faeces) was thrown on an officer, that was never reported to me or other members of the executive. There was a conversation among the executives about the incident.

He added, "With respect to whether the officer did not get an opportunity to clean himself or have a change in clothes, I cannot speak to that because that was never brought to our attention."

The association described the incident as "troubling" since the officer, after being subjected to the "degrading attack," was made to remain in soiled clothing because there were "no provisions or communication channels currently exist to facilitate emergency relief or support for prison officers outside of their stipulated shift times."

"The association further wishes to highlight that the area vandalised with faeces is yet to be cleaned to date, almost three weeks after the incident, creating not only a severe health hazard but also an environment of indignity for the officers tasked with supervision."