No hearing for prisoners

The five young men, who appeared last week on firearm and narcotics related charges, were among several others prisoners who were not brought to court or sent late by prison authorities.

Newsday understands that magistrates had to adjourn matters in the absence of prisoners yesterday, after prisoners on the list, who are usually held at the Port-of-Spain prison, were brought to court at approximately 10.15 am — an hour and 15 minutes later than the scheduled 9 am start time.

"No one appeared before any magistrate yesterday. All matters were adjourned by the sitting magistrates. By the time the prisoners were brought, no one was taken upstairs since the matters were all adjourned," said the source. According to sources, yesterday’s hindrance was nothing new, since there seems to be an ongoing problem between the Prison Authority and the Court and Process Branch in Port-of- Spain.

According to the source, the Court and Process Branch staff based at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court has made it clear to the prison authorities that the cell based in the building can only accommodate a certain number of prisoners. However, prison authorities, who work according to the schedule set out by magistrates, bring a greater number of prisoners to the court most of the time.

"The prisoner’s cell is designed in such a way that it can only hold between 45 to 60 prisoners. What has been happening for a while now is that this number is being exceeded since we are seeing that, on most days, 85 to 90 persons brought from the Port-of-Spain prison," the source explained. There are further problems for accommodation, the source said, when other prisoners, who have charge cases (persons held in police stations), are brought to court.