‘Torturing us as payback’: Inside the disturbing allegations of how Ontario jail guards exacted their revenge against inmates

In a co-ordinated operation that spanned two days, guards allegedly went cell-to-cell on the unit where the assault occurred, strip-searching every inmate and zip-tying their hands.

Lawyers for the affected inmates are now making court applications to have charges stayed or sentences shortened in response to what they argue are blatant violations of their clients’ Charter rights.

“At some point the only way to get the message across that they cannot treat inmates like human garbage is for there to be serious implications in court,” said Alison Craig, lawyer for three of the inmates. “I think it has to be an extreme remedy in court that hopefully will send the message that jails can’t be run this way.”

Incident inside jail now being investigated

The Ministry of the Solicitor General is now investigating the incident, the Star has learned, but a ministry spokesperson refused to confirm a review was underway. The spokesperson also refused to answer any questions about the incident, citing its connection to ongoing court cases.

“The safety of both staff and inmates inside Ontario’s correctional institutions is of serious importance,” the spokesperson said, “and misconduct in any form is not tolerated.”

Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, the cabinet minister responsible for provincial jails, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Security cameras inside the jail captured at least some of the incident. However, the ministry would not release the video, denying the Star’s freedom-of-information request.

Maplehurst, one of the largest jails in the province, is overcrowded, with many inmates triple-bunked in cells meant to hold two people. It’s also routinely locked down due to staff shortages, and has a reputation for being violent and unsanitary.

Craig said what is alleged to have happened in this case would not be justified under any circumstance, but the fact that most people inside Ontario’s provincial jails are legally innocent — more than 80 per cent are awaiting trial — makes it even more egregious.

“They have not been convicted of anything, and they have been severely traumatized by what went on that day, some with what seem to be potentially lasting effects,” she said.

‘Fearing for my life’

The following account of what is alleged to have occurred is based on interviews with eight inmates with first-hand experience, as well as an affidavit filed in court by another inmate, and interviews with several inmates’ lawyers and family members.

After the guard was assaulted on Dec. 20, the inmate who committed the assault was removed and the other inmates were locked in their cells. The lockdown continued for the rest of the day and the next day.

On Dec. 22, inmates awoke to a loud bang and bright light — stun grenades. Then guards from the jail’s Institutional Crisis Intervention Team, a kind of SWAT team for the jail, rushed into the unit, banging their riot shields and screaming at the prisoners.

“I had no idea what was happening and hit the ground fearing for my life,” one inmate wrote in an affidavit filed in court. “The ICIT team had shields and full riot gear on and ordered us to stand at the front of our cells where they strip searched me and my cell mate in front of each other without privacy.”

After they were strip-searched, their hands zip-tied in front of them, inmates said the guards contorted their fingers and wrists into painful positions while pulling them out of their cells into the unit’s common area.

“I felt like they were going to break my wrists, how far they bent them back,” said Lance Lambke, one of the inmates who spoke to the Star by phone from Maplehurst.

Abuse persisted for two days, inmates allege

Some inmates told the Star they were also beaten by the guards and pepper sprayed without warning.

Inmate Bryan Adams said he and his cellmate were pepper sprayed while they were lying on their beds in their underwear, as they had been ordered to do by the guards.

“They were basically just torturing us as payback for their friend that got punched in the face,” Adams said.

After they were pulled out of their cells, inmates were made to sit facing the wall with their heads bowed while guards trained laser-pointed pepper-ball guns at them.

“If we moved an inch they’d threaten to shoot us,” said Mike Vos, another Maplehurst inmate.

Inmates say the guards then ransacked their cells, removing everything except the mattress. Three inmates told the Star that guards also poured condiments or shampoo on the floor of their cell and mattress, and threw whole toilet paper rolls in the toilet.

The guards allegedly did the same in each of the unit’s six wings over the next two days, during which time all other inmates on the unit were locked down. The inmates who spoke to the Star say they were not provided any bedding or clothing aside from a single pair of boxer shorts during this time.

Jail staff also allegedly turned on industrial fans, which blew cold, outdoor air into the unit for the entire two-day period. Guards were wearing toques and coats while the inmates were in their underwear, they said. The inmates said they were also not given any toilet paper during this time.

“I hate to say it, but I used my hands to wipe,” said Lambke. “I tried to wash them in the sink, but there was no soap.”

Jailhouse incident has been cloaked in secrecy

Institutional Crisis Intervention Teams are made up of specially trained correctional officers responsible for “controlling violent or potentially violent inmates,” according to a 2019 government news release announcing their expansion to three jails in the province’s north.

Craig said the crisis teams are rightly used to deal with fights or quell riots in jails, but they should never be used as a form of punishment or retribution.

Lambke, one of the inmates who spoke to the Star, said there was no justification for using the crisis team because the inmate who committed the assault was removed days before.

“The crisis was gone,” he said. “(The assault) didn’t even happen on our range.”

The incident has been cloaked in secrecy for months, but now that many of the affected inmates’ cases are reaching court, more details are expected to come to light, including by way of security-camera footage from inside the jail.

Craig, the defence lawyer, said she has seen video of the incident, which was provided to her as part of the Crown’s disclosure in one of her client’s cases. But she is prohibited from sharing the video or describing what it shows per a condition of receiving the disclosure.

There has been a “higher level of secrecy” around the video than is typical, she said, adding the reason for this provided by the government — to protect jail security — is “nonsense.”

“That is never raised as an issue when we’re disclosed jail video in order to implicate our clients in offences they’re charged with that occurred in the jail,” she said. “We get those videos no problem.”

The Star’s freedom-of-information request for a copy of the security camera video was denied on several grounds, including because the video concerns “a matter that is currently under investigation.”

Security camera footage reviewed by judge

Security camera footage was nearly made public when it was set to be entered as an exhibit in a court case in Hamilton in June. The defendant, Jason Mercuri, had already pleaded guilty to gun and drug offences when the incident at Maplehurst occurred in December, but Mercuri’s lawyer made an application for a reduced sentence on the basis of a Charter violation.

On the day the court was supposed to hear arguments, the Crown and Mercuri’s lawyer reached agreement on a joint sentencing submission, rendering the Charter application moot.

Speaking in court that day, Justice Anthony F. Leitch briefly discussed Mercuri’s allegation that he and other inmates suffered an “unwarranted assault” at Maplehurst.

“I make no finding in that regard,” the judge said. “It has not been litigated. Witnesses have not been cross-examined on affidavits … But I will say that I have watched the video, and there is no doubt that Mr. Mercuri and others were herded into the hallway, their hands zip-tied.”

Without hearing more evidence Leitch said he could not determine whether a Charter violation occurred. He said jail officials had submitted affidavits suggesting what happened was “to protect order in the institution.” Leitch reiterated he could not make a finding one way or another.

Mercuri’s lawyer, Alexandra Valeri, declined to comment.

At one point during the hearing, Crown lawyers said they had limited time to prepare for the hearing because Maplehurst had been slow to provide disclosure about the incidents.

Justice Leitch, sounding frustrated, said disclosure “better start to flow soon … or Crowns are going to be working these deals all over the place.”

The province would not answer questions about Leitch’s comments.