Mom: Why did they beat my son?

Clarke said that she received a message from her son, Darren Samuel, late Thursday afternoon that he was beaten and was at the Port-of-Spain General Hos-pital receiving treatment. However, when she arrived at the hospital her son had already been taken back to the prison and checks for his medical records could not be found.

“I was told by a nurse that his eyes, face and neck were swollen and he was in a lot of pain,” Clarke told Sunday Newsday. She said she went to the PoS CID to enquire about the matter but was told that the police could only launch an investigation when given permission from Prison officials. Samuel, who was charged with larceny, is serving a two-year jail term and is expected to be released in August. Contacted yesterday, Rougier, stated that he was aware that a prisoner had to be taken to the hospital for treatment on Thursday.

He said he received information that on Thursday, a package containing a quantity of marijuana, knives and cell phones, was thrown over the prison wall. He said a search was conducted, during which there may have been scuffles between the officers and the inmates.

“It came to my understanding that the inmate who was carried to the hospital was one of those who were searched and who retaliated,” Rougier said.

He has advised that Clarke return to the prison next Tuesday as visits are not allowed on a public holiday.