News

Nova Scotia's top corrections official admits he's baffled as to how a dangerous, handcuffed prisoner managed to slip out of double-locked leg irons, then elude capture after a brief foot chase.

“It's a mystery,” said Fred Honsberger, the province's executive director of correctional services. “I've never heard of anyone getting out of leg irons before.”

Mr. Honsberger is facing tough questions after 30-year-old Jermaine Carvery of Halifax escaped custody while being escorted by two corrections officers to a medical appointment.

Mr. Carvery, who is described by police as dangerous, is charged with attempted murder and hostage-taking in relation to a string of high-profile robberies.

He remained at large late yesterday, though police said they had received numerous tips.

Mr. Honsberger confirmed that Mr. Carvery, still handcuffed, fled from the back of a corrections van on Thursday as the back door was opened outside a downtown hospital.

One of the unarmed officers gave chase – the other was already in the hospital – but lost Mr. Carvery less than 10 minutes into the pursuit.

Investigators later found the leg irons – still locked – in or near the van.

It's unlikely that Mr. Carvery had anything with him to pick the lock on each ankle because prisoners are typically searched before they are taken out of the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in nearby Dartmouth, Mr. Honsberger said.

A review of video recorded at the detention centre showed that the restraints were put on properly, he said.

There were no other prisoners in the van when Mr. Carvery was taken to the Victoria General Hospital.

Mr. Honsberger said he couldn't divulge what Mr. Carvery was to be treated for, but he confirmed something that had been widely suspected: “It didn't involve his legs, that's for sure.”

Although Mr. Honsberger declined to speculate, it appears that Mr. Carvery might have slipped out of the shackles without unlocking them.

Mr. Honsberger said he couldn't imagine how the prisoner could have pushed the restraints past his heels, though he said it was possible that his clothing played a role.

Mr. Carvery was wearing prison-issue sweatpants at the time.

The escape is now the subject of an internal review and a police investigation.

MLA Bill Estabrooks, the provincial NDP's justice critic, said public confidence has been shaken because the bizarre escape was the fourth miscue for corrections officers in the past four months.

In December, a man charged with assault was mistakenly released from the Dartmouth centre.

The following month, a rape suspect was accidentally set free from a jail in Cape Breton.

And later that month, another mix-up in Dartmouth led to the premature release of a man charged with aggravated assault.

Mr. Estabrooks said it's time for an independent review of the system.

“That would be a real good first step in restoring public confidence in correctional services in this province,” he said in an interview.

“We don't need another internal review.”

When asked whether the corrections officer who chased Mr. Carvery was fit enough to keep up with the escaper, Mr. Honsberger said that was the expectation.

“They would be in reasonable shape,” he said, declining to say disclose the officer's age.

Mr. Honsberger said he was concerned that it took nine minutes for corrections officials in Dartmouth to alert police about the escape.

At 1:30 p.m. – two minutes after Mr. Carvery leaped from the van – the officer chasing him called his superiors to let them know which way he was headed. But corrections staff did not call police until 1:39.

“It should have been immediate,” Mr. Honsberger said. “I'm concerned with the nine-minute gap.”

Police arrived at the scene at 1:47 p.m., but Mr. Carvery was long gone.

Earlier reports suggested there was a much longer set of time lags, but Mr. Honsberger said those accounts were incorrect.