Dear Editor,

It is with great pain that I learnt of the escape of some notorious prisoners and the murder of a prison officer and the serious wounding of another officer.

It is precisely because of the possibility of incidents like those that I call for shackling of some prisoners. Precisely because of this, I say that those charged for armed robberies and violent crimes should be kept in a solitary confinement. Those of a particular crime style should not be kept together as they will conspire to escape at all costs, even killing the innocent in their bid for success in their dastardly conspiracy.

The bleeding heart liberals, the Francis Carylls, et.al who believe it is inhumane to shackle criminals, and the Guyana Human Rights Association who do not believe in solitary confinement, what do you say now?

Today I ask Mr Francis Caryll, are the escapees known for their brutality, prisoners or criminals? Should we await the outcome of their re-arrest and the outcome of the trial? Or should we await a few more murders on their hands before they can be called criminals?

The authorities have to know these criminals. They have to be profiled! They have to be isolated and not allowed private conversations with family and friends, except lawyers. In Europe, England, the US themselves, lawyers have worked to help their criminal clients escape, why not here? No stone must be left unturned. The type of criminals and style of killings demanded this. Their ferocity and ease to murder demand this.

We need a new prison. With underground cells, say two or three stories underground, where the most ranking organised criminals are kept to live out their lives. And if sentenced to death, it should be swift after the process of appeal expires.

Maybe this brutal murder of a man doing his job will open the eyes of the authorities and the public, the Francis Carylls and the Guyana Human Rights of the need to fight for the victims, not the criminals.

What is worrisome is when these criminals/bandits are encountered, which will most likely be with the Quick Reaction (or black clothes police) to have them arrested most likely they will react violently and if the police return fire in self defense, and if they are killed, many liberals and many politicians will accuse the police of extra judicial executions as has been the case with a number of killings where police killed seasoned criminals in shootouts with those who resisted arrest.

These hardened robbers and killers need to be dealt with very appropriately.