According to [allegedly corrupt] Prison Superintendent Dr. Elliston Rahming, Officer Sandy Mackey returned to work about a month ago after taking vacation for a “fairly extended period.”
“The Prison Act says that the superintendent may suspend someone with half pay if charged before a court of law, and he has not been charged,” Dr. Rahming explained.
He said Officer Mackey will also continue to receive his full salary and has been transferred to the facilityﾒs Remand Centre.
A four-woman, three-man jury unanimously found Officer Mackey responsible for the death of murder convict, Neil Brown, while he was on a prison bus in the Yamacraw Road area following his recapture in the early morning hours of January 17.
The jury determined that the circumstances surrounding Brownﾒs death constituted murder.
Jurors also found prison inmates, Forrester Bowe, Barry Parcoi and Corey Hepburn, jointly responsible for the death of prison guard, Dion Bowles.
Bowe, Parcoi and Hepburn are being held in prison.
But formal charges against Officer Mackey have been held up pending a constitutional review.
Mr. Mackeyﾒs attorneys insist that their clientﾒs constitutional rights were violated during the six-week coronerﾒs inquest.
They are pushing for the Supreme Court to quash the entire proceedings.
They argue that the coronerﾒs court has no authority to conduct an inquest into a prison break, but only deaths.
But the constitutional motion has yet to be heard.
When contacted by the Bahama Journal, Officer Mackeyﾒs attorney, Dion Smith, could not say when the motion would be heard.
“I have no clue. We are waiting on a transcript of the whole process because some of the arguments are based on the grounds that certain things were said,” Mr. Smith told the Bahama Journal.
“And so we would need to formalize skeleton arguments for the case.”
Mr. Smith said his client is anxious to put the entire ordeal behind him.
“I have not spoken to him for weeks, but he is quite confident,” he said. “He still maintains his position.”
Officer Mackey maintained his innocence throughout the entire case.
Meantime, Assistant Superintendent at Her Majestyﾒs Prison James Farrington reportedly remains on administrative leave, a move that came soon after he appeared as a key witness in the coronerﾒs inquest. At the time, he implicated two of his colleagues
Inside sources had revealed 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.
Mr. Farrington had reportedly applied for an extended vacation leave that is expected to end in November.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
