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Security alert after breakout plot discovered

Prison guards have been placed on a high security alert after Police uncovered a breakout plot at the Westgate Correctional Facility.

Detectives handed an intelligence file to prison chiefs after being tipped off that an elaborate plot had been hatched to spring a remand prisoner.

Senior officials in the prison department immediately beefed up security and notified Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness.

Extra Police and prison officers were drafted into Supreme Court yesterday for the monthly arraignment hearings.

About six prisoners on remand were handcuffed as they were marched in and out of the courtroom -- a policy not normally used for unconvicted inmates.

One man in court, who witnessed the events, said: "There must have been about 10 prison guards and about 10 Police.

"It was certainly a higher presence than normal. Everybody noticed it. People were talking about a breakout plot.'' The remand prisoners brought before Chief Justice Austin Ward yesterday included Justis Smith, accused of murdering 17-year-old Canadian Rebecca Middleton, and three alleged bank robbers.

Handcuffs were also slapped on the suspected bank raiders -- Yusef DeSilva, Rupert Archibald and Michael Dillas -- who are thought to be at the centre of the escape plot.

The trio have all denied a $38,000 armed robbery at the Bank of Bermuda's Somerset branch on April 9 last year.

Acting Prisons Commissioner Hubert Dean said: "Basically, we were just taking extra precautions.'' "Today's exercise was a joint effort between the prison officers and Police.

"The extra precautions were necessary because of the recent behaviour of certain individuals at Westgate.

"We have also received some additional Police intelligence which I cannot comment on at all.

"But we decided to leave the cuffs on after getting approval from the Chief Justice.'' Unruly remand prisoners -- who staged a sit-in during the Operation Cleansweep arrests last August -- prompted tighter regulations inside Westgate.

One man, released after seven days' jail for not paying a bill, said he was locked in a cell for 22 hours a day and 23 hours a day at weekends, last week.

But Mr. Edness, Acting Minister of Health and Social Services with responsibility for prisons, said the latest security arrangements were adopted in the wake of fresh Police intelligence.

He said: "It's better that I don't say too much on the matter.

"I would simply say generally that there's been reason given for security in certain matters to be tightened, and the prisons have responded to that.

"I won't go beyond that because we are talking about a security risk. But the tighter security measures will be in place for some time.'' Police would not discuss details of their intelligence operation last night, or what they had uncovered.

A spokeswoman said: "Police are unable to comment on what the new information is. We are talking about intelligence.''