A soon-to-be refurbished at CrabbesPeninsula will now be used to house mentally
ill individuals who are involved in criminal activity.
Cabinet spokesman, Information Minister Melford Nicholas made the disclosure at
Thursday’s post-Cabinet briefing in response to a question posed by one of the
reporters.
“As the Cabinet brainstormed on Wednesday, we determined perhaps maybe for
the short-term, we could re-purpose that facility at Crabbes that is available, in the
first instance, to house their individuals who would be taken off the streets, would
be held on remand, for whatever reason, and they would not be held amongst the
general prison population. The question is though is this, will that be sufficient?
We would now have to look about the type of care that these persons would need,
and the right level of personnel to attend to them,” he explained.
According to Nicholas it is now for the ministries of health and legal affairs to
work out the modalities for the operation of the facility.
For years, there have been issues with mentally ill persons who are either
convicted or linked to some sort of criminal activity being housed at His Majesty's
Prison. Complaints were that neither the prison nor its staff were inadequate to deal
with these individuals.
Court cases further highlight shortcomings in the system, with individuals
diagnosed with serious mental illnesses being released back into society without
adequate support or supervision.
Just last week, the government was ordered by the High Court to find a suitable
detention facility for mentally ill murder accused Ziggy Beazer, who is said to have
killed a cellmate at St John’s Police Station in December 2021.
Many are questioning why so much time elapsed before such action is taken on
this longstanding issue and while Nicholas accepts some blame he says moves are
now being made.
He said it ‘better late than never’ but that the issue of how to properly treat persons
with mental health challenges remains an ongoing subject of discussion at the
Cabinet level and throughout the government apparatus.
