Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams has launched an investigation into yesterday’s escape of an accused murderer from Dodds Prison in St. Philip.

The jail break by Tyreke Benskin was the first escape from Dodds Prison since it was opened 16 years ago.

Prior to Benskin the last prisoner to escape from a main jail was Winston Hall who 24 years ago, in 1999, scaled the walls of the now abandoned Glendairy Prison at Station Hill.

Unlike Hall who spent several years on the run, Benskin was recaptured in a few hours with the help of drone surveillance, tips from the public and a combined dragnet by the security services.

Mr. Abrahams notes the quick recapture but wants to know how and why such an escape could have occurred in the first place.       

Mr. Abrahams notes the role that drone technology and social media played in the recapture.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams.