Assistant Superintendent at Her Majesty's Prison James Farrington has been placed on administrative leave, a move that came soon after he appeared as a key witness in the coroner's inquest into the January 17 deadly prison break during which he implicated two of his colleagues.
The Bahama Journal has learnt that many of Mr. Farringtonﾒs colleagues, who complained that there was an insurmountable level of mistrust as a result of the senior officerﾒs testimony, even signed a petition calling for his removal from the Fox Hill facility.
When contacted, Prison Superintendent Dr. Elliston Rahming admitted Mr. Farrington had applied for an extended vacation leave that would have began in August, ending in November.
"Through certain discussions he went on early leave to end at the same time that his application had indicated," Dr. Rahming said.
But when asked if the prison officerﾒs request for vacation leave was by choice, the superintendent said only, "I would not say so."
Mr. Farrington was one of several senior prison guards to take the stand on at least two occasions during the coronerﾒs inquest into the deaths of prison officer Corporal Dion Bowles and inmate Neil Brown.
Brown was one of four inmates who escaped from the prison after reportedly cutting through their cell bars with hacksaw blades.
The other inmates who escaped were Forrester Bowe, Barry Parcoi and Corey Hepburn. Two of them were immediately recaptured, but it took police more than two weeks to catch Hepburn.
During the inquest, Mr. Farrington claimed that Parcoi said that Principal Officer Van Johnson had brought the hacksaw blades into the prison.
Mr. Johnson, 57, who strenuously denied the allegations, was found dead last month in his red Nissan truck at the entrance of Potterﾒs Cay dock in the early morning hours.
There were no bruises or marks to the body. Police later ruled out foul play.
Implicating Mr. Johnson was not the only damning evidence the court heard from the .
Mr. Farrington also testified that Officer Sandy Mackey shot Neil Brown after the inmate had been recaptured and restrained.
The jury later found Mackey responsible for the death of the inmate, but formal charges have been held up pending a constitutional review.
Mr. Mackeyﾒs attorneys insist that their clientﾒs constitutional rights were violated.
They are pushing for the Supreme Court to quash the entire proceedings of the six-week inquest.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
