Man charged, remanded for setting fire in Brickdam lockups

Already on remand for a robbery under arms charge, Stephon Howard, the 23-year-old vendor of East La Penitence, Georgetown who recently set fire to mattresses while in custody at the Brickdam Police Station was Wednesday charged and further remanded to prison.

Howard appeared virtually at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus to answer to the charge which alleged that on July 16, at the Brickdam Police Station, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to two mattresses.

The court heard that the accused is known to the police.

On Saturday, July 15, at about 18:00 hours, the accused was arrested by the police at Albertown Police Station for an investigation into robbery underarms.

He was escorted to the Brickdam Police Station lockups at about 19:00 hours where he was placed in custody in the second cell on the southern side of the lockups building.

At the time he was the only prisoner in the cell.

At about 6:50 hours on Sunday, July 16, it was observed that heavy smoke was coming from the cell and as a result, police ranks on duty opened the cell and found the accused lying on a mattress.

Upon closer examination, it was discovered that the mattress was burnt.

The ranks escorted the accused out of the cell, where he was later interviewed and admitted to lighting the fire in the cell with a lighter and a piece of toilet tissue that he found in the said cell.