Prison — Suspicious death of John Martingale: Prison Officers recalled after scene inspection

In the wake of the raid of the premises at the Central Prison of Beau-Bassin, carried out by magistrate Jonathan Vellien and representatives of the Director of Public Prosecutions on July 14, several guards who had carried out a search in cell No. 71 at the Central Prison of Beau-Bassin of John Mick Martingale the day before his death, will be recalled to the witness stand. Thus, Prison Officers Ghoorah, Vythilinga and Nundllall, who had carried out the search in Martingale's cell the day before his death, were summoned to court for Friday. An element of the Prison Security Squad (PSS), Emmanuel Constant, who had lent a helping hand to his colleagues during this operation, and the Prison Officer Lafleur, who was on duty on the fateful evening in the prison's Control Room, where the images are shown permanently images from surveillance cameras, will be called to the witness stand. These developments took place yesterday before Magistrate Vellien, sitting in the Rose-Hill District Court, who presides over this judicial investigation. The magistrate issued the necessary summons to appear, at the request of Me Yanish Jeerasoo, the representative of the DPP. These summons to the witness stand were deemed necessary in the circumstances. During this raid, ASP Ramtoolah and guards Ghoorah, Vythilinga, Nundllall and Constant, who had carried out the search in Martingale's cell the day before his death, carried out a reconstruction of their movements during this search, under the supervision of the magistrate and representatives of the DPP. According to the version from there ASP Ramtoolah and Prison Officers, who have already testified in the witness box previously, having learned that Martingale had illicitly in his possession a cell phone, some of them had entered his cell, and the inmate ended up give them the cell phone. Prison Officers maintain they never brutalized Martingale. However, the next day, the latter was found hanging from the bars of the skylight of his cell. John Mick Martingale, aged 32, was arrested at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on October 29, 2022, after that a passenger on the same flight as him, a Ukrainian woman named Mariia Peresolkina, had identified him as the one who had given her two bottles filled with a liquid containing synthetic cannabis, with a market value of more than Rs 44 million, Brussels airport.