Achi news desk-
An inmate who escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, NB, on Saturday night has a history of violent crimes and escapes from custody.
In a news release sent out on Sunday, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said inmate Jermaine Browne was not counted in the penitentiary’s minimum security unit around 8:35 p.m.
Browne was recaptured in the community without incident around 10 p.m., New Brunswick RCMP confirmed to CTV News on Monday.
Previous criminal history
On Tuesday, CCC confirmed that Browne is also known as Jermaine Carvery.
Carvery was convicted by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in 2013 of attempted murder, robbery and forcible confinement for four robberies totaling nearly $500,000 in cash and merchandise.
Carvery was involved in robberies at Costco in Halifax in 2004, TRA Cash and Carry in Truro, Chrissy’s Trading Post in Hammonds Plains and Direct Cash in Dartmouth in 2006.
All the robberies in Nova Scotia involved Carvery, who operated with one or more accomplices, holding workers hostage at gunpoint.
In the Costco robbery, the perpetrators bound and in some cases duct taped the eyes of approximately 40 employees over a period of two and a half hours.
At the time, the Crown prosecution compared the scene of the robbery to a Hollywood film.
Carvery escaped from custody in Halifax in April, 2008 and was arrested two months later at a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont.
He had escaped after freeing himself from double leg shackles and bolting from two correctional officers in Halifax as he arrived at hospital for day surgery.
Latest escape attempt
CCC spokeswoman Sophia Doiron said when the inmate was not accounted for on Saturday, the RCMP was immediately contacted.
Police say they were able to locate and arrest Cerfdy in the community without incident Saturday night.
When an offender is caught again, Doiron says a new risk assessment is carried out ensuring he continues to be placed in an institution with an appropriate level of security.
“This inmate’s Warrant Expiry Date is July 25, 2050. However, this could change because the escape could lead to new criminal charges,” Doiron said in an email to CTV News.
Carvery’s sentence began on November 26, 2008 and he had been in CCC custody since then.
Doiron said CSC regularly assesses all inmates to ensure they are placed at the appropriate security level.
When considering the transfer of inmates to lower security level facilities, CSC says it considers the progress made in addressing needs identified in the inmates’ correctional plan.
That plan outlines what prisoners must do to address the factors that led to their criminal behaviour.
“Only those offenders who are assessed as having a low risk to public safety can be placed in a minimum security institution,” Doiron said.
Minimum security
According to the CCC, the intention of a minimum security institution environment is to develop a prisoner’s ability to function with minimal monitoring. The agency says it plays an important role in the process of reintegrating criminals back into the community and helping them become law-abiding citizens.
“So this is a way to try to transition them from life in a federal penitentiary to life on the outside. It is a slow process, but it is a gradual one. And many transition, but some don’t,” said University of Saint Thomas criminology professor Michael Boudreau.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that despite his criminal record, he would be after sixteen years in this position in a low security area.”
Concerned residents
Some longtime Dorchester residents said they were concerned when they discovered an inmate with such a long history of violent crimes was incarcerated in a minimum security facility.
“He was definitely in the wrong place, he was in the wrong organisation. It should have been behind the wall and not outside in a condominium,” said Greg Partridge, Dorchester fire chief. “The least security, it’s just condominiums, that’s all they are.”
“I don’t know why a man with that history would do a sentence of 40 years, he should be up in Renous prison. This one is for the lesser criminals and I don’t understand it,” said Dorchester resident Dave Methot.
Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, former mayor of Dorchester and current Tantramar councillor, lives across the road from where Carvery was caught.
“It’s a bit of a concern for me. I put a lot of faith in our correctional services there,” said Wiggins-Colwell.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
