Bonner v R

• Jurisdiction: Belize
• Court: Court of Appeal (Belize)
• Judge: Inniss, J.A.
• Judgment Date: 01 June 1979
• Neutral Citation: BZ 1979 CA 12
• Docket Number: Criminal Appeal No. 7 of 1979
• Date: 01 June 1979

Court of Appeal

Inniss, J.A.

Criminal Appeal No. 7 of 1979

Bonner

and

Regina

Criminal Law - Appeal against conviction and sentence — Negligently allowing prisoner to escape from custody

Facts: Whether trial judge erred in applying definition of negligence under section 7 of Criminal Code to negligence as set out in section 44 of Prisons Ordinance, Cap. 68, Belize — Whether misdirection of jury — Whether defence put to jury — Appeal against conviction dismissed

Held: Appeal against sentence allowed — Sentence of one year reduced to six months imprisonment.

Inniss, J.A.

1 The appellant is a prison officer in Her Majesty's Prison in Belize City. He was on duty and in charge of the prison when two prisoners escaped on the 11th August, 1978.

2 He was charged on an indictment containing three counts. The first count charged him with wilfully allowing the prisoner Alton Moore to escape from the prison contrary to section 43 of the Prisons Ordinance, Chapter 68. The second count was for a similar offence, but the escape this time was by another prisoner Elias Crawford.

3 On the close of the prosecution's case and on a “no case” submission by the appellant's counsel, the learned Chief Justice in a considered ruling upheld the submission that there was no case to answer on these two counts, but called for the defence on the third count. The third count states:

“Statement of Claim

Negligently allowing an escape contrary to Section 44 of the Prisons Ordinance, Cap. 68 of the Laws of Belize.

Particulars of Crime

Willword Bonner, on the 11th August, 1978, at Belize City in the Central District of the Supreme Court, being a prison officer in Her Majesty's Prison, and having the lawful custody of Alton Wayne Moore and Elias Crawford, prisoners undergoing terms of imprisonment in the said prison, negligently or carelessly allowed the said Alton Wayne Moore and Elias Crawford to escape.”

4 The trail of this count continued and in the final result the jury found the appellant guilty and he was sentenced to imprisonment for one year with hard labour. The appellant now appeals against his conviction and sentence.

5 The prosecution called seven witnesses. The first witness was Anthony Lopez, the recording officer in the Belize Prison Service and the Deputy Chief Officer. He gave the details of the escaped prisoners Alton Moore was sentenced to death on a murder charge but the Governor had, in exercise of his powers under Article 26 of the Belize Letters Patent of 1964, substituted a sentence of life imprisonment. The prisoner Elias Crawford was serving a term of five years as from the 17th October, 1977. Mr. Lopez also gave evidence about the disposition of the staff between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. This was the lunch period and the majority of the prisoners were locked in their cells. The prison population then had 139 inmates, but of this number only 21 were not locked up. Ten prisoners worked in the kitchen and there were eleven in the workshop. Both the escaped prisoners were included amongst those in the workshop. The prisoner Crawford was in charge of a work bench and the prisoner Moore was in charge of the library. At this time there were only three warders on duty. The appellant was the senior officer and as such he was solely responsible for the prison during that period of his relief duty. He was posted at the main gate of the prison and his particular duty was to deal with anyone coming for admission to the prison at the main gate. The second officer Simon Bonner was posted in the kitchen where he would have charge of the ten prisoners working in the kitchen, whilst the third officer, Glenford Jones was in charge of the prisoners in the workshop including the two escapees.

6 The second witness was Earl Moore, the chief officer of the prison. He gave evidence of the general running of the prison. He said that only three officers were on duty from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday the 11th Augustc — the appellant who was in charge and was stationed at the main gate office, Simon Bonner in charge of the kitchen and bakery, Glenford Jones in charge of the yard and workshop. He said that at 12:50 p.m. that day the appellant telephoned him and informed him that Crawford and Moore had escaped.

7 He related how he went to the prison immediately and told of his investigations there.

8 The prosecution's case was that the prisoners escaped when the appellant called officer Jones away from his post to take charge of the gate whilst he went to a toilet in the rear.

9 The chief officer's evidence is that the appellant, if he wanted to go to the toilet while in charge of the gate, should have gone to the toilet upstairs the gate house and that he should never have called away the officer in charge of the yard to relieve him.

10 The prosecution's main witness was Glenford Jones, the prison officer on duty with appellant and Simon Bonner. He was assigned to look after the back of the prison compound including the workshop. He has eleven prisoners to look after, including the two escapees, Elias Crawford in the carpenter's section of the workshop and Alton Moore in the library. It was his duty to watch these two men along with the other prisoners. While he was on duty some time after mid-day, the telephone in the workshop rang, but before he answered it, he saw the appellant walking towards him. The appellant came into the workshop and first spoke to the prisoner Moore, and then came and told officer Jones to take over the gate as he wanted to go to the toilet. Jones then said he complied with the instructions and went to the gate, and presumably appellant went to the toilet. Jones estimates that a period of about ten minutes elapsed during which time no officer would have been at the back in the workshop. It was during this period that the two prisoners escaped. The alarm was raised by the prisoner Humphrey Cadle who in the presence of the appellant and of Jones said he saw the white man Moore and Crawford take a ladder and go over the wall. This report was apparently made at the gate at a time when the appellant had returned from the toilet. After this report, Jones said he went and made a check of the workshop and found the two prisoners Moore and Crawford missing. He also found a ladder against the wall. Jones went over the wall by the ladder and searched for the prisoners but they had disappeared. An alarm was raised and the senior prison officers and the police came. This witness said the ladder had been in its normal place by the centre of the main building when he reported for duty. The prosecution's case is that the prisoners Moore and Crawford moved the ladder and escaped over the wall when officer Jones had taken over the gate post.

11 The other prison officer then on duty, Simon Bonner, gave evidence, but he was on duty in the kitchen and did not know about the actual escape until the alarm was raised.

12 A prisoner, George Samuels gave evidence. He was working in the cabinet section of the workshop. He saw both the prisoners Moore and Crawford talking, together in the library. He saw when officer Jones left and went to the gate and he saw when the prisoners Moore and Crawford removed the ladder and took it to the back, but did not see them escape.

13 Various photographs of the relevant sites in the prison were taken by the witness Heusner and put in evidence.

14 Sergeant Reyes of the C.I.B. was the last prosecution witness. He came up with a party of the C.I.B. when the escape was reported and he conducted investigations at the conclusion which he arrested and charged the appellant with wilfully allowing prisoners to escape.

15 It was at this stage that Mr. Zuniga, for the appellant, made his “no case” submission. The Chief Justice upheld his submission on the first two counts but called for the defence on the third count. The appellant elected to give evidence on oath. He stated that he was on duty at the gate when he had an urgent call of nature and had to go to the toilet. This was about 12:40 p.m. when he expected the police to arrive with new prisoners and also expected the Superintendent of Prisons, Mr. Clarke. He said that both the police and Mr....