MONTEGO BAY, St James — Six prisoners who yesterday morning escaped from the Freeport Police Station were still at large last night, despite a massive man hunt by the police.

“As we speak, we have a dragnet in and around the parish to catch these six men that escaped from the facility. We have also communicated with the police in our adjoining parishes, Hanover, Trelawny and Westmoreland [to be on the lookout],” commander of the St James Police Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Steve McGregor, said at a press conference at the Freeport Police Station yesterday afternoon.

The prisoners, McGregor said, escape over the perimeter wall into bushes near the police station.

On the run are:

* Kelvin Hodge, 30, labourer of Barnett Town, St James, who was charged for four counts of murder.

* Randy Murray, 30, labourer of Landillo, Phase 6, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, who was charged for illegal possession of a firearm.

* Marcus Robinson, 34, higgler of Doom Street, Montego Bay, St James, who was charged for illegal possession of firearm.

* Gregory Roberts, otherwise called ‘Greg’, 32, a labourer of Maroon Town, St James who was charged for robbery with aggravation.

* Benjamin Stephens, 21, of Dias, Lucea, St James, who was charged with murder.

* Shaniel Luton, 26, of Farm Heights, St James, who was convicted of murder and scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, December 4.

According to SSP McGgegor, between 4:00am and 5:00am the six prisoners escaped from their cell by “breaching the system through faulty plumbing fixtures in the bathroom area”.

McGregor, who described the men as dangerous and possibly armed, appealed to anyone with information about their whereabouts to inform the police.

He said punitive action will be taken if it is discovered that the six men escaped as a result of negligence on the part of any member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

“It is never the best thing to see happen as a divisional commander, when you work hard to take people who are wanted for crimes committed in your division or elsewhere to have broken out of the custody that we have them through our negligence,” said McGregor.