The man charged with multiple murders and unsolved kidnappings, Silas Mack, is now claiming a beating at the hands of his prison guards at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca.

Mack told his attorney, Deke Rohlehr, that the beating came because he refused to sign a document or tell officers the location of the women he is accused of kidnapping or killing.

Rohlehr met with Mack in prison yesterday.

Speaking afterwards, Rohlehr told the Express, ’He (Mack) said prison officers jumped on his face, back and groin. The entire left side of his face is swollen and his left eye is swollen shut.’

Yesterday, Rohlehr claimed his client was being forced to sign a document and to tell officers the location of the women.

Police sources told the Express yesterday that the beating left Mack hospitalised in an unconscious state for several days.

Initial reports had suggested Mack, 33, had been beaten by prisoners. However, police sources said Mack, who is isolated from the general prison population, was beaten by two prisons officers last week, after he allegedly punched one of them in the eye. Mack was taken to hospital suffering from injuries to his head, eyes, back, chest and other parts of his body. He was released from hospital on Monday.

Police said assault charges are expected to be laid against him soon for punching the officer.

Mack, of Cunupia, is charged with the kidnapping of eight-year-old Leah Lammy and stealing the girl’s cellular phone. It is also alleged he murdered 19-year-old Gail Durity sometime between May 31 and June 2, last year. Durity’s body was found in a Manzanilla coconut plantation the day after she left her Dass Trace, Enterprise home.

Mack is charged also with the kidnapping and murder of Devika Lalman. The teenager was found in January in a rice-field off the Southern Main Road in Cunupia. She had been missing for five days.

He also faces charges of kidnapping Sally Lobai, who disappeared on February 11 after she travelled into Chaguanas for a job interview, and Rianna Parag, who went missing last December 16 after a shopping trip in Chaguanas. He is also jointly charged with a 2008 rape, kidnapping and robbery incident.

After his first appearance in court, Commissioner of Prisons, John Rougier, said plans were in place for keeping Mack safe. Yesterday, Rohlehr said he will be applying through the court for his client to be reviewed by a specialist before a constitutional motion is filed.

’It is the duty of the State to ensure he is being kept safe. Can the State just abuse its wards?’ Rohlehr asked.

-with reporting by

Rickie Ramdass