Rodent bites, extreme heat and a staffing shortage mark a summer at N.L.’s biggest jail

It's not a one-off for inmates to be bitten and gnawed at by rats and mice. Lawyer Stephen Orr himself has had two clients who've been bitten by rodents.

Those two inmates were housed in Her Majesty's Penitentiary, where Orr says the stench of dead rats sticks on the clothes of lawyers who visit, and follows them back to their offices.

"The rodents are really bad at HMP right now. It's the worst it's ever been," Orr said in an interview Thursday. "It's always been bad and there's always a smell when you go into HMP and it's really dead rats in the walls."

And when it's not the rodents, Orr said, it's a sticky, sustained heat that's gotten so bad judges have given extra credit to inmates for just living in it.

Situated on the banks of Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, HMP has a large grassy area — though Orr said you'll be hard pressed to see anyone out there. Even when temperatures reached their peak this July, Orr said an apparent lack of staff led to outdoor visits, recreation, and other programming being halted or sporadic.

For decades, there have been concerns over inmate care and the physical condition of the building, which has sections dating back to the mid-1800s. But several defence lawyers say there is a new level of urgency at the correctional facility that needs to be addressed.

The provincial Department of Justice, which oversees the jail, says it recognizes the problems and is working to address them.

Taylor Starrett, a lawyer with Noonan Piercey in St. John's, says there are a myriad of concerns, and access to her clients is one of them.

"I'm often going into court appearances with clients who are often appearing by video from HMP and they're not aware of what's going to happen with their matter — and I'm not aware of their instructions on what they want to do — because I have no way to reach them," Starrett said in an interview Thursday.

There are challenges contacting inmates because there is a well-documented staffing shortage — one that typically worsens over summer and Christmas.

Avalon Law Group lawyer Sandra Fry said that, of all the issues facing HMP at the moment, staffing is most urgent.

"There was an instance a week or two ago where I had a client who was supposed to be appearing virtually in court and we couldn't reach the jail to get him on the phone," said Fry.

"When we finally did get down, there was no one available to go get him to send him to court. It's just not acceptable."

And without enough staff, inmates can't move around the building to attend visitation, medical appointments, programming or even go outdoors.

"They're having to lock the inmates in their cells more, especially on the weekends," said Orr. "Most inmates haven't had visits for the last six weeks. Most inmates have only had about three visits with their family since May."

And when it's not the isolation, it's the rodents.

'Complete infestation … completely unacceptable'

Starrett said her clients tell her they hang up their belongings from the ceiling of their cells so not to attract rodents, and awake to find rats on their chest.

Orr said the problem has expanded to all areas of HMP.

"There's a complete infestation. It was originally just in the SHU — the special handling unit on the bottom — but now it's spread throughout the prison," he said.

"There's rodents on all units. I've had at least two clients that have been bitten by mice, which is, you know, in this day and age, completely unacceptable."

Publicly-posted food premises inspection reports from Her Majesty's Penitentiary show a documented rodent problem, from November 2022 to the latest inspection in March 2023.

"Evidence of rodent activity in premises. Pest control operator in place," the inspection report notes. "Ensure that investigation and remediation continues. Sources of pest entry to be identified and remediated."

Starrett and other defence lawyers have asked the court for what's called the Duncan credit, for time served in pre-sentence custody.

In a recent decision, Judge James Walsh granted Starrett's client two days credit for every one spent in HMP.

A written decision says Capt. Gregory McGuire, acting assistant superintendent, told the court that "when HMP staff are advised of issues in the institution they try their best to deal with the issues as soon as possible …

"However, he advises [the Crown] that most issues are out of the control of HMP staff and are the responsibility of the Department of Justice and Public Safety."

'Evokes a scene from fiction written in the time of Charles Dickens'

In September 2022, Judge Jacqueline Brazil granted a 25-year-old man two days credit for each day served after the court heard he was bitten by a rodent while he was sleeping and required a course of antibiotics.

"He observed what appeared to be teeth marks in the wounds. The HMP nurse confirmed that the bite on his leg was likely from a rodent," Brazil wrote in her decision.

The inmate also testified to having no treatment for COVID-19, aside from being "shoved in his cell," and that staff shortages meant he spent long days in his cell.

"Surely, no prisoner in this country should endure being bitten by a rodent while in the custody of the state; this evokes a scene from fiction written in the time of Charles Dickens and falls well below what a prisoner should be expected to endure in 21st century Newfoundland and Labrador," Brazil wrote.

Richard Driscoll, who is awaiting trial on charges related to armed robbery, said he's never seen the situation so dire.

"[Guards] came in on my unit about a week and a half ago, stood on the middle of the range and said, 'Does anybody want to go to Stephenville? There's a bus going today, we'll send you right now,'" said Driscoll, who is a member of the inmate committee, which advocates on behalf of the prison population.

"I've never seen that before."

Driscoll said he hasn't had a Zoom meeting with his two children in 15 weeks and was delayed getting medical treatment.

The staff, he said, are sharing in the misery.

"Staff are literally overworked. They don't get lunch breaks. They're basically on all week long. You see them on the mornings and night shifts for 24 hours and they're basically sympathizing with us," he said.

There are fears the pressure could spill over into violence, Driscoll said.

Orr said it's already happening. He said he's had older clients assaulted due to overcrowding and mandatory sharing of cells.

"It's a horrible place to work and nobody should have to work in those conditions. But for the prisoners, I mean, it's completely inhumane," said Orr.

"It's inexcusable that's going on right now."

Recruitment ongoing

In a statement late Thursday afternoon, the Department of Justice and Public Safety said health services continue at the jail but acknowledge there may be delays in getting inmates to outside medical and dental appointments.

Infrastructure issues are addressed as they arise and pest control makes regular visits to HMP, the statement said.

"We recognize there is an ongoing need for more correctional officers, and recently created a financial incentive to help fill positions," the statement said.

The province pledged $130,000 in July for 13 people to obtain a correctional officer certificate at the Atlantic Police Academy in Prince Edward Island.

"This new incentive received significant interest, with 60 applications received by the Aug. 11 deadline. Applicants are moving through the process and fitness testing was recently conducted."

Meanwhile, plans to build a new prison to replace HMP are well behind schedule.

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