Ministry to Investigate System as Severely Malnourished Man Dies after 40 years in Custody

The Ministry of National Security says it is moving to address the findings of a report published by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) about brutal treatment and the death of an 84-year-old man in the prison system for 40 years.

INDECOM Wednesday said Noel Chambers, who was mentally ill was in custody for forty (40) years though he had never been tried. He had been declared not fit to plead when first arrested and charged for a murder in 1980. Subsequently he was declared fit to plead but was not returned to court to be tried.

INDECOM Boss Terrence Williams called the whose episode “disgraceful”.

The INDECOM report said Chambers, a Rastafarian, was severely emaciated, had been badly bitten by vermin and had bedsores when he was taken to hospital where he died.

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Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry, Senator Matthew Samuda, in a release today said the report has highlighted acute issues within agencies and sections of the justice and correctional systems.

Minister Samuda said the Ministry will “be ordering an audit of operations which concerns how the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) interacts with the Court system.”