Prison officers last night branded Commissioner of Corrections John Prescod as "bull-headed and suicidal" for going in alone last month to defuse a sit-in by remand prisoners at Westgate Correctional Facility.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) said Mr. Prescod ignored the advice of his own negotiators who were trying to settle the 24 hour barricade by 28 inmates and that he undermined the authority of prison staff.

In yesterday's Royal Gazette, an inmate who took part in the lock-in - which occurred during the week-long prison strike - said Mr. Prescod went into the remand centre alone, leaving staff in riot gear outside, and resolved the dispute in less than half an hour by making promises to the prisoners.

One promise, said the inmate, was to allow them five hours recreation time each day rather than the current two hours. Others included looking at providing better access to family and lawyers.

But prison officers said yesterday that none of these promises had been passed on to staff.

In a blistering attack on the Commissioner, POA spokesman Russ Ford said yesterday: "The behaviour and decisions made by Mr. Prescod during the inmate sit-in were regarded as `bull-headed and suicidal'.

"He went against advice given by the head negotiator and his team, as well as top-level senior staff who were present.

"The promises made to inmates by him are unknown. His yielding to their demands only undermines the authority of staff and reinforces the belief that Mr. Prescod is more interested in inmates than staff, and he must go.

"Inmates will always try to cut a deal which will favour them, but no deals should compromise the security of other inmates and staff in the immediate or long-term future.

"We anxiously await the decision of the Commissioner to see if inmates will be penalised for their negative behaviour.

"They caused hundreds of dollars in damage, and once again the tax-payer will bear the burden. Attempts to curb negative behaviour should never involve any rewards that will serve to reinforce `bad' behaviour.

"It should also be noted that if it weren't for the behaviour of the Commissioner, none of this (the strike or other activities) would have happened."

Prison staff went on strike for a week to try to force Government to sack Jamaican Mr. Prescod, whom they accuse of being autocratic and ignoring the recommendations of an independent review into the service.

They failed to get him sacked, but the Commissioner will be forced to implement all parts of the review and report to Premier Jennifer Smith four times a year on his progress.

Mr. Prescod could not be contacted for comment last night.