Two St Ann policemen have admitted they failed to properly keep track of a tear gas ball released from the Alexandria Police Station the night a deadly fire razed the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre.

Constable Roogae Rowland, who testified yesterday at the commission of enquiry being held to determine the cause of the fire which resulted in the deaths of seven wards, was on duty the night of the blaze.

Rowland said it was his duty to record government property being taken from the station, but that he did not do so after handing a tear gas 'bumming ball' to Constable Lawrence Burrell on May 22. The policeman told the enquiry he was busy talking on the telephone but, when pressed about what he was doing afterwards, said he did not remember to make the entry into the station diary.

Unusual procedure

The constable said he did not ask why Burrell was requesting the tear gas, but thought it was for Armadale. Rowland, who said he has been a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force for six years, noted that he did not record the calls made to the station about the incident at Armadale. He said it was unusual for a policeman to return to the station without tear gas, but admitted he wrote in the station diary that there was "nothing unusual to report".

He said he was made aware of the tear gas alleged use at Armadale when Burrell and Corporal Shaw-nette Dunkley returned to the station, as he heard police personnel saying that it had been thrown into the building.

Contradicting testimony

Yesterday, Rowland also contradicted Dunkley's testimony.

Dunkley, who appeared at the enquiry twice, denied knowing that Burrell had asked for the tear gas. However, Rowland said Dunkley was at the station when Burrell requested the tear gas before leaving for Armadale and could see and hear everything that was said.

"We were all in the guardroom. I could not say how close," he said.

Corporal Donovan Campbell, one of the superiors stationed at the Alexandria station, said he realised that eight tear gas canisters were recorded in the station diary on May 23. However, he counted seven, and did not ask Rowland about the missing device.

The enquiry was adjourned early yesterday as Constable Albert Wisdom, the third witness scheduled to testify, did not turn up.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com