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Convicted massacre escapee captured in minibus
Captured Mark Royden Durant aka Royden Williams and Smallie
Exactly three months after a deadly breakout that razed the Camp Street jail, and saw several dangerous prisoners on the run, the charmed run of Mark Royden Durant aka Royden Williams and Smallie, came to a muted end in a minibus last evening.
He was alone. His dreadlocks were gone, and he had lost weight.
According to a statement from Government, the wanted man was alone and unarmed. He was headed to the East Berbice area.
“Acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine has confirmed that notorious prison escapee Mark Royden Durant aka Royden Williams and Smallie was intercepted and recaptured this evening at approximately 20:00hrs on the Weldaad, West Coast Berbice public road. Durant was traveling in a public mini bus heading east,” a statement said.
Williams, just over a month ago, eluded cops who were hunting him and other escapees.
He and fellow escapee, Uree Varswyck, were holed up in a shack a short distance away from the Linden Police Outpost, in Region 10.
However, Varswyck was killed at that location during a gun battle with armed forces. The shack was located just 15 houses from the Outpost.
Williams managed to escape.
Dressed in camouflage vest and a pair of military boots, Varswyck, a former Tactical Services Unit Trainer, engaged the joint forces in a shootout which ended in his death.
Police had said that the joint forces received information that the two Camp Street Prison escapees were hiding out at Amelia’s Ward and as such, they responded.
When the ranks arrived at the scene, the fugitives immediately started shooting at them, causing the joint services ranks to return fire killing the 28-year-old Varswyck, a father of five.
Williams and Varswyck were among eight inmates who broke out of the Camp Street prison on July 9, last, after recruiting other prisoners to start a fire at several sections of the compound to serve as a distraction.
During their escape bid, Varswyck shot and killed prison officer, Odinga Wickham. The ex-cop was considered to be the most dangerous of the escapees, for whom a $10M reward was posted.
Varswyck, an ex-policeman was charged for the December 2014 murder of Sterling Products Limited security guard, Wilfred Stewart and the execution-style killing of GGMC engineer, Trevor Abrams in 2015.
Stewart was ambushed and gunned down in broad daylight while driving along the East Bank of Demerara.
Varswyck, Williams, Stafrei Alexander Hopkinson and Desmond James broke out of the camp Street Prison together on July 9, after inmates set fire to the prison to distract the authorities.
The four fugitives then abducted a taxi driver, who they later freed after forcing him to accompany them to the Annandale, East Coast Demerara backlands.
Hopkinson was later nabbed in Topoo, a village nestled between Hampshire and Albion in East Berbice, Corentyne on July 29, last, while James was caught hiding in an abandoned shack at Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara (WBD) on July 14, last.
Another Camp Street escapee Cobena Stephens also known as OJ is still at large.
Additionally, on July 24, last, 13 prisoners crawled to freedom through a tunnel they had dug in a latrine in the Lusignan holding facility.
Eleven of the inmates have since been caught and placed back into the prison system while one has been shot dead.
Paul Goriah, who is still on the run, is among those escaped from the Lusignan Prison facility.
The Guyana Police Force had offered a $10M reward for information leading to the arrest of the escapees.
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