Rioting inmates refuse to be taken back to prison
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161484139
Crime Suppression Unit and Guard and Emergency Branch officers were called to the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court to subdue prisoners who refused to be taken back to prison yesterday.
Electrical fixtures and wires were torn down and used as weapons to ward off riot officers.
Some prisoners smeared faeces on themselves and the walls of the holding bay.
The riot broke out yesterday afternoon, triggered by what prisoners described as inhumane treatment by the court system. The holding cells, they said, were too cramped.
They were also critical of the treatment in court by Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington, who presides in the First Court.
The police were able to take control of the prisoners within an hour and fire fighters were called in to clean up the mess.
The Judiciary was expected to send a crew to repair the damage this weekend.
