No one ever expected them to succeed. Many people were sure they would end up back behind bars.
Sunday Newsday tracks the progress of eight men who won their cases or got out on bail. Their lives outside prison are featured in a series on inmates from Debbie Jacob's CXC English classes and debate teams.
Why did these men make it when so many others failed?
Read their stories of redemption, rehabilitation and reinvention in the Sunday Newsday.
In an institution where anger and toughness served as the glue that bound everyone together, Lasan Mason stood out for being gentle and quiet.
But looks can be deceiving. The laser-focused teen who always sat in the front row during English class had a stony resolve to survive the Youth Training Centre (YTC) and succeed outside of the institution as no one could imagine.
Mason came to YTC in November 2009 one month before his 16th birthday and spent three years there until November 2012.
“I was charged for larceny of about $200,000. They said I stole furniture, mattresses, beds, and a guitar from people’s houses. I wanted to know how they thought I did these things, and where I put everything.”
Thinking it was obvious that he couldn’t have committed the crimes he was charged for, Mason made a statement to the police.
“My mistake was making a statement without my mother present. She should have been there. She went to Naparima Girls' and was very educated. I pleaded guilty because it was up and down in court, and that meant a lot of money to fight a case. I’m not saying I was 100 per cent innocent, but what I got held and charged for is more than I could ever imagine doing in my whole life.”
When he got his three-year sentence to YTC, Mason said, “I felt so confused – like I was in a whole other universe. I looked around, saw those brown uniforms and thought, ‘This place is not for me, but I’m here, and I have to survive.’”
He joined every programme he could – especially those he felt would help him to communicate better.
“I learned how to understand people and how to live. You need to understand people to make it there or anywhere. I wanted my freedom and I wanted to do better. In YTC, I felt like I was in exile.”
At 18, Mason came out of YTC and embarked on his dreams of getting more education and working.
But six months after he went home, he got locked up again.
“They said my name was called in a robbery, and I was hiding, but I was going to school and studying computer literacy. I didn’t know about any charge. I was working with a company. I had money.”
Mason spent 11 days in Golden Grove Remand Prison.
“When I finally got to court, the magistrate agreed. I wasn’t hiding from the police so I got out on bail.”
Again, the charges made no sense to him.
“I had a job. I was trying to survive and be educated because I didn’t want to be known as a criminal.”
After three years, Mason’s second case was dismissed.
“But that case cost a lot of money,” he said.
Mason headed back to school. While living in Mayaro and studying in San Fern
