Fremantle prison riot

The Fremantle prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on January 4, 1988 at Fremantle Prison, in Western Australia. The riot was organised as a diversion for an escape that was to take place. Prisoners created a fire as part of the diversion, and temperatures inside the cells were recorded at 52.2 °C (126 °F). DIvisions 3 and 4 were taken over by a total of seventy prisoners, and 15 [Fremantle Prison, a brief history Cyril Ayris ISBN 0-9581882-1-1] officers were taken hostage. The fire caused AU$1.8 million in damage and unintentionally prevented the planned escape.

Background to riot

Fremantle Prison was built using convict labour during the 1850s, with the design based on Pentonville Jail, and was the maximum security prison for male offenders in Western Australia. During the 1890s the size of the cells were doubled by removing a join wall between two cells. The conditions in the cells remained unchanged except for lighting and basic toilet facilities. The population was divided into 4 divisions, division 3 housing violent prisoners and division 4 housing murderers and those serving long term sentences.

Twelve men, including Brenden Abbott, planned a mass escape from Fremantle prison. To do this they used a diversionary riot and fire. During the two weeks prior to the riot they collected 3 litres (⅔ US gallon) of fuel from lawnmowers, which they managed to conceal in their drink bottles.

The riot

Just before 4:00pm (1600) two prisoners were brought in from the exercise yards in division three to deliver tea and hot water to the cells as the other inmates were locked away. They had two twenty-five litre drums of boiling water stationed on the top floor above the gates, which was perfectly normal. Five officers were stationed in the division on this day, and as two officers opened the gates to let the prisoners in, fifty litres of boiling water was poured on their heads. At that moment, seventy violent prisoners from division three rushed in through the gates at once. They very quickly overpowered the officers, and locked them in the yards. The prisoners now had the cell keys, and they made their way to the top floor, opening every cell and throwing down anything removable that would burn, and piled it up at the doorway at the end of the division.

The fire they created was much bigger than they anticipated and the flames quite literally reached the roof. The roof was the original jarrah timber built 140 years prior, and before long half of the third division and all of the fourth division was a raging inferno that could be seen from Perth. Images were broadcast live across national television. Camera crews in helicopters filmed the chaos as the prison collapsed. From the air it appeared as if no efforts were being made to extinguish the fire; efforts were being made but the main gates were made in 1850 by convicts and were too narrow to get fire engines through. The fire continued for nineteen hours until the flames were brought under control.

After the fire was under control, the prisoners negotiated a trade of the prison officers for food. They then agreed to return control of the prison back to the guards. Although 15 officers were injured (two of them seriously), nobody was killed.

Aftermath

In February 1988 a report into the causes of the riot was prepared. The report suggested that little evidence supports the escape plan theory common in the media, but that the riot was largely the result of an incident of that morning involving the mistreatment of a prisoner and his subsequent release into three division yard. [Report of the Enquiry into the causes of the Riot, Fire and Hostage taking at Fremantle Prison on the 4th and 5th January 1988. Prepared for the Hon. J.M. Berinson, M.L.C., Minister for Corrective Services, 17 February, 1988, John McGivern B.A., J.P.] Total damages to the prison amounted to AU$1.8 million, including the cost of restoring the roof to original condition. The riot highlighted the poor conditions inside the jail and two years after the prison was closed with most prisoners being transferred to the new Casuarina Prison. The prison was turned into a tourist attraction which is now nationally heritage listed. A trial was held at a cost of AU$3 million and 33 men were charged. The twelve ring leaders were given six years on top of their current sentences, two of those in near solitary conditions. Brenden Abbott successfully escaped from Fremantle prison in 1989 and spent 5 Fraction|1|2 years on the run before being caught in Queensland.

References

* [http://www.amol.org.au/omj/volume1/gsmith.pdf Commemoration, Voices & Museums Report] Accessed April 30, 2006.
*Pedley, Derek, "Australian Outlaw - The True Story of Postcard Bandit Brenden Abbott", Sly Ink, 2006. ISBN 0-9775440-1-X