of the Prison Farm during the night and were allowed to keep tools -- including hammers and screwdrivers -- in their rooms.

The claims were made by a prison officer speaking on condition of anonymity in yesterday's Royal Gazette .

But Prison Commissioner Edward Dyer said: "Prisoners are checked every 30 minutes. The officers on duty would know if anyone is not there when checks are made.'' He added: "Under prison policy, prisoners are not allowed to take tools into their rooms. I would have serious concerns if senior officers were giving tools back to prisoners after other officers had taken them away.'' And Mr. Dyer stressed: "Officers have not come to me with concerns or complaints to validate what this officer has said to the newspaper.'' There was also no evidence to prove the officer's claims of inmates leaving the facility to attend "sessions'' or being seen at the Clayhouse Inn, he continued.

But Mr. Dyer did confirm that there were approximately 70 inmates at the Prison Farm and only two officers on duty during the night.

He said officers have been concerned about this and had voiced their concerns, he admitted.

"The responsibility of officers on duty at night is to be observant, but not to unnecessarily put themselves at risk to stop someone from getting out of the facility.

"They are required to report any occurrence first to the Police and then to prison officials. We have not been notified of any occurrence.'' In regard to injuries sustained by Kenneth (Eggs) Smith, which the prison officer claimed were caused when the long-time inmate jumped the wall between the Prison Farm and the Co-ed facility, Mr. Dyer said: "His injuries were consistent with a fall and there is no evidence to support that they happened elsewhere.''.

The officer had reported that Smith was found in his cell with broken toes and a gash in his head after being checked earlier in the night when he was not injured.