A Hight Court judge has called out prison authorities as she declared courts have been made to wait from ten minutes to an hour for the arrival of prisoners.
“That is not acceptable. Something has to be done,” Justice Pamela Beckles declared yesterday.
She made the comments after the bus ferrying prisoners from the St Philip penal institution arrived well after 10:30 a.m., causing the No. 5 Supreme Court to start at 10:52 a.m.
The court had a number of matters involving prisoners on remand, including a sentencing in which the prosecutor and defence counsel were at the Bar table before 9:30 a.m.
The situation was the same in the No. 3 Supreme Court, which was hearing a matter involving a prisoner on remand.
It was the second consecutive day for the late arrival of transport from Dodds Prison.
Yesterday, Justice Beckles declared she would not be taking responsibility for the late start of the court.
“I can’t help but notice that it is eight minutes to 11. Somebody has to put on the record why we are starting this late because I will take no blame for it. It is not my fault. So someone please put on the record why we’re starting at this time,” she said.
“Certainly, it wasn’t the state, Ma’am,” said Senior State Counsel Maya Kellman, while attorney Samuel Legay added: “You know it wasn’t me.”
Both then indicated the court had been awaiting the arrival of the prisoners.
The judge said the courts had seen the wait times for the arrival of prisoners gradually increase.
She added even though her court had started, those in the Henry Forde and David Simmons Judicial Complex, on Coleridge Street were still awaiting the arrival of their accused.
“For a while now, because right now the courts down below (Coleridge Street) are waiting on the prisoners as well, a while now we’ve had to wait at least ten minutes.
“It used to be ten minutes. It went to half an hour, now to an hour for the prison van to get the prisoners here, and they’ve only just arrived,” she noted.
“That is not acceptable. Something has to be done, and the rest of them at the other complex haven’t even seen the prisoners as yet. They were told that the prison van only now left the prison. So that is not acceptable.
“So if it gets out there, hopefully the powers that be will do what they have to do, but this is not acceptable. Eleven o’clock and we are now starting, and most of us have been here since 9:30,” the judge said.
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