YouTuber overnights in abandoned prison

After spending a night on the premises of one of Jamaica's former prisons, YouTuber Claud Watkis vows to walk the straight and narrow road, as he does not want to go behind bars.

Watkis, who stayed at Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre in St Catherine, said his night was filled with mixed emotions and shattered nerves.

"All I have to tell anyone is to not to go to prison. I went inside one of the dorm and in there it told me a story. I saw a makeshift calendar, where a female was just marking off her days to freedom. It kind of jerk me and for some reason, I immediately went in that former inmate's shoes. I felt clustered, and I just started wondering how she must have felt being away from her loved ones. I don't know the crime that was committed, but all of that just felt lonely and depressing. I told myself that I would never go to prison," she said.

Fort Augusta was Jamaica's first prison for women. On March 2, 2017, inmates were relocated to the South Camp Rehabilitation Centre. In April 2020, it was announced that the Jamaican Government intended to use Fort Augusta as a halfway house and counselling centre for deportees. The oceanside fortress was originally built by the English in the 1740s to serve as Kingston's main defence on its western side. In 1763, lightning struck it - and its 3,000 barrels of gunpowder - causing an explosion that broke windows 17 miles away and killed 300 people.

Watkis said he has read of the horror stories and tales behind the former prison but, on the night of May 11, he decided to venture on the premises. A friend and fellow YouTuber promised to accompany him on the escapade, but cancelled at the last minute.

"My nerves were not settled at all, as I was afraid of the living and non-living. Just the driveway alone was creepy. I was afraid of ghosts, and for some reason there were some birds there just making some unusual sounds. I kept hearing noises, like something was hiding in the bushes, but now that I think about it, probably it was the crabs walking. I didn't see any dogs, so I don't know. The noise got so loud and constant, so I began running; and I ran and tripped and scraped up my hands, and the camera fell," he said

The 24-year-old said his fear of duppies hindered him from sleeping inside one of the cells, so he decided to set up a tent in the yard.

"I just wasn't sure if anyone was living there. All night I kept hearing the crabs walking around, but I got some sleep. In the morning, I left around 7:30 after I got some daylight shots of the place," he said.

For approximately four years, Watkis has been keeping his viewers on the edge of their seats with his content. He has made overnight stops at Dovecot cemetery, Rose Hall Great House, Duppy Church in Manchester, and Port Royal Cemetery.

"What I wanted to do was to just do stuff that has never been done; and even if it was done, it was never documented. I wanted to share my experience doing this type of content. I had a lot of time on my hands, and YouTube has always been something that I wanted to do, so I started thinking and this concept came into my head," he said.

Watkis said that one of his most surreal experiences was his walk from Stony Gut in St Thomas to Spanish Town, St Catherine, as he attempted to retrace the steps Paul Bogle and other freedom fighters took in 1865.

"It's not just a video for me, but I want to go back in time and sort of experience what others before me did. That was why I walked 41 miles in 19 hours, just to have a feel of what Paul Bogle and others did in the rebellion. It's a learning experience for me," Watkis said.