‘On 4 November, Governor Pruce announced that he had commissioned a full, independent external investigation into the circumstances that led to the escape of Jose Almestica and John Burgos from His Majesty’s Prison on 25 October.

‘I can now confirm that the UK’s Ministry of Justice has identified an expert in prison security and risk management to undertake the investigation. ‘The expert has arrived in the Virgin Islands and has begun his investigation.

The investigation, which is expected to take about two weeks to complete, will be thorough and impartial and will ensure that we identify what went wrong and take the necessary steps to strengthen security.’

ENDs