This morning, Police charged five inmates in relation to May’s stabbing at Her Majesty’s Prison that resulted in the death of Nichail Chambers.
Investigations conducted by officers of the RVIPF Major Crime Team led to the arrests of Andraes Norford, Essadro Jefferson, Rean-J Christopher, Dee Dijon Hodge, and Kareem Durant. All five were charged with the murder of Chambers. Additionally, Norford and Jefferson were charged with attempted murder in relation to injuries sustained to another inmate.
All five will remain at the prison and will appear before the Magistrate’s Court at a future date.
Chambers, 29, were among four that sustained injuries in an altercation on the evening of May 30 at the prison. The four were treated at Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, however Chambers subsequently died.
Today’s arrests indicate the Force’s continued determination to bring all those responsible for serious crime to justice.
Following the May 30th stabbing, Governor of the Virgin Islands, His Excellency John Rankin revealed that a special trainer from the United Kingdom has been assigned to provide training to prison officers at Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut on Tortola.
This was revealed in a recent 284 Media interview with Governor John Rankin, where he highlighted the importance of improving prison officer training, following a deadly stabbing incident at the facility.
“We certainly need a sufficient number of prison officers to deal with the number of prisoners in the prison. There are about 106 prisoners in the prison as we speak, but yes I do believe that we do need to improve training for prison officers,” he stated.
He added, “We need to improve security, we need to improve work on rehabilitation and I am pleased to say that a UK trainer would be coming up shortly to assist the prison superintendent and the staff in that particular area.”
Governor ranking also confirmed that several arrests were made following the stabbing incident at the prison and said that while an internal investigation is ongoing, an external investigation will also be conducted.
“The police have already made a number of arrests in relation to the crimes which appeared have occurred, but we also would widely need to have an external review of security at the prison to make sure not just for these particular set of dreadful instances, but in longer term we can ensure a better security and safety at the prison, safety for the prisoners, safety for the prison officers and to give the public confidence the prison is being properly run,” Governor Rankin explained.
Following an emergency National Security Council meeting, two senior prison officers who were on duty at the time of the incident were put on administrative leave.
The Major Crime Team continues to ask persons with information relating to this incident to come forward. All information will be treated in the strictest of confidence.