HMP chapel riot allowed to happen to 'relieve pressure,' guards allege

Three correctional officers at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's allege a violent chapel attack that saw one inmate stabbed and members of the clergy, correctional officersand other inmates jeopardized was allowed to happen by management as a way to relieve pressure cooking inside the jail.

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Newfoundland and Labrador's citizens' representative was unable to conclude it was an intentional act by management, but raised issues with how the matter was handled in the days leading up to the bloody melee.

Correctional officials denied that they let the attack happen on purpose.

"Adult Corrections takes its responsibility for the safety of inmates, staff and visitors very seriously," the Department of Justice and Public Safety noted in a response to the complaint.

"By no means was this incident intentional in order to relieve pressure in the institution."

'It would be in everyone's best interest if KG did not attend church this Sunday. Inmates on Living Unit 3 would not like this."- Intel provided to HMP Captain

The officers complained to citizens' representative Barry Fleming's officein November 2015 more than a year after the now-infamous chapel riot.

Fleming completed his report in November 2016. It was not made public. However, CBC News obtained a copy.

Fleming's office conducts independent investigations and mediation stemming from complaints bycitizens andwhistleblowers.

On Feb. 9, 2014, rival inmates Philip Pynn and Kenny Green both of whom were awaiting trial on murder charges were allowed to attend the samechapel service, despite knowledge that both men were incompatible inmates.

In the days leading up to a riot involving dozens of inmates and an assault on Green, management received intel that "it would be in everyone's best interest if Kenny Green did not attend church this Sunday. Inmates on Living Unit 3 would not like this."

That's according to Fleming's report.

'Relieve the pressure in the institution'

Despite that warning, both men attended the service, along with roughly three dozen other inmates. Just one correctional officer was stationed in the chapel, and three clergy memberswere present.

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"Management staff were aware in advance, through various sources and credible intelligence, that this incident was going to happen, but did nothing to stop it," the complaint alleged.

"... this was done intentionally by management in an attempt to relieve the pressure in the institution."

In a response to the complaint, the Department of Justice and Public Safety said a captain at HMP received source information"of unknown reliability" two days before the attack.

However,CBC News has learned that the institution had received death threats against Green before.

Pynn and Greenare known incompatible inmates meaning the two are not supposed to be together in the prison because of past violence and threats.

Clergy wasn't notified of threat

Management did let Green know about the threat, but said that Green who was later convicted of manslaughter in the death of Joey Whalen didn't seem concerned.

Instead of adding guards to the chapel, where the threat was reported, the department said staff were assignedafloor below. That leftsome guards questioning why they didn't just staff the chapel itself. Fleming's office noted that staffing in that area was "insufficient."

Prison officials said there were concerns about restricting Green's access to the church service.

In hindsight, thedepartment acknowledged things could have been done differently specifically not letting Green attend the chapel service, restricting inmates from one of the units or cancelling the service all together.

HMP riot video WARNING: VIOLENT CONTENT

10 years ago

Duration 1:49

An excerpt of a riot at HMP shown Feb. 9. The video was shown in court today

While Fleming was unable to conclude thatthe attack was intentionally permitted to happen, he did say that management failed to alert the clergy of the attack and challenged its statement about the reliability of the warning.

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"It was also acknowledged by the department that there was a well-known history between the two parties involved, enough to the point that they were listed as incompatibles and were kept separate within the institution in other ways," Fleming's report noted.

The report said acaptain and acting sergeantindicated they were going to email their superiors to express concerns and to seek guidance about the intel received, but did not.

"There was no reason given as to why they decided not to do this besides the fact that the acting sergeant was confident they had enough staff to deal with any issues," the report said.

Fleming's office also noted thatthree documents existed on the incident, but only one was provided.

Could have been prevented: report

"This was of concern to this office as the 'official version' submitted by the department had less detail than the other versions as it only described what happened after the riot broke out, omitting anything that occurred beforehand," the report noted.

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"The department was unable to explain this."

By no means was this incident intentional in order to relieve pressure in the institution.- Department of Justice and Public Safety, in response to citizens' representative investigation

Fleming concluded that the incident could have been avoided.

"The chapel riot that occurred on Feb. 9, 2014, was an extremely serious incident that put the lives of staff, inmates and clergy risk," Fleming noted.

"According to the evidence, this incident appears appears to have been preventable."

Recommendations made

That's something the department acknowledged, and said it has identified gaps and errors in how the situation was handled.

Movement has been made on recommendations to make the penitentiary safer, the report said.

Months after the chapel riot, the director of corrections and community services reviewed the incident and made 12 recommendations. Thoseincludehavinga written plan in place to manage incompatible inmates.

As a result of the riot, the department said eight measures were taken immediately to improvesafety.

Correctional officers were issued pepper spray, and "out of an abundance of caution, security information from a source of unknown reliability is shared with staff."

• Kenny Green sentenced to 6 years for manslaughter
• Philip Pynn has 4 years left to serve for shooting friend Nick Winsor