THE SENIOR WARDER who was in charge of ground operations at Glendairy Prisons on the second morning of a riot there, told the Commission of Inquiry yesterday he had no idea why armed prison officers never opened fire on inmates who were trying to escape special security cages.

Those same inmates later set new fires which led to the destruction of the Station Hill, St Michael facility on the morning of
March 30, 2005.

Emmerson Clarke, a 55-year-old warder who was Acting Orderly Officer that morning, said four warders who were guarding the security cages never discharged their weapons, when unruly inmates broke free.

Clarke, who has 27 years in the Prison Service, was forced to respond to two notices of alleged misconduct regarding his actions on March 30, 2005.

Clarke was accused of being negligent of his duties as the supervisor in charge, as well as abandoning his post.

Represented by attorney-at-law Arthur Holder during his evidence in chief yesterday, Clarke said he was never given instructions when taking up duties around 9 p.m. the night before (March 29) at Glendairy.

The senior officer was not due to start work until 9 p.m., but had gone to the prison just before midday after hearing of a disturbance there.

He left later that day, but returned to take up his normal post at 9 p.m.

Clarke said he was responsible for 16 warders, who were used four at a time for three-hour shifts to guard 900 prisoners who had been placed in two security cages on the compound.

He said personnel from the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Barbados Defence Force were also about, but as far as he knew, he was responsible only for the 16 prison officers.

According to Clarke, there were no problems during the night of March 29, even though the presence of police and soldiers was
significantly reduced.

But, around 6.45 a.m. the next morning, the inmates became restless and started pushingthe cage.

Clarke said he gave no orders for the inmates to desist, but immediately reported the matter to the Assistant Superintendent of Prisons David Broomes during a morning briefing session.

In response to a question by Commission attorney Orville Durant, Clarke said he never gave an order to warders to shoot if necessary, but expected they would have to had it become necessary.

"I know the power we had under the provision of the Prison Act, that we could shoot inmates who were attempting to escape," Clarke said in response to a question from CommissionerElliott Belgrave.

Clarke was also asked if he ran away after the inmates pushed down the security cage. "I never neglected to supervise my staff," Clarke said. He also denied being negligent as the supervisory officer. "I did not fail to report. I briefed the assistant superintendent and he in turn would have reported to the superintendent," the senior warder added.