Police have launched an investigation into a fire at the Brickdam Police Station lockups on Sunday, which resulted in a mattress being partially burnt.
In a statement, the Police said that prisoner Stephan Howard was questioned about the fire and relayed that when he entered the lockups on Saturday, he discovered a lighter and a piece of toilet paper inside the cell.
According to the Police, Howard lit the toilet paper and placed it on the cell door after mosquitoes started to bite him around 6:40h.
“About 10 minutes later, he realised that the toilet paper had fallen on the mattress on the floor of the cell, and the mattress ignited into flames, which he (Howard) successfully extinguished by throwing water from a plastic bottle he had,” the Police said.
Law enforcement officials added that Howard shouted out during the interview, stating that the Police should do what they had to do since he had nothing more to say.
“An ‘entry’ was made in the Station Diary to this effect. He also refused to put his story in writing and also refused to go on a video interview,” the Police concluded, noting that investigations are ongoing.
In October 2021, the Brickdam Police Station was completely gutted by a fire allegedly set by a prisoner.
