INDEPTH: HARSH SENTENCE
Kingston Penitentiary
CBC News Online | Nov. 15, 2004
June, 1835
Kingston Penitentiary officially opens under the
reign of King William IV.
June, 1835
Author Charles Dickens tours the penitentiary. Dickens's
father spent time in a debtors prison which led to his son's
fascination with prison systems.
1873
Kingston Penitentiary museum is constructed by the
inmates.
January 24, 1934
The Kingston Prison for Women
opens, housing female prisoners who had originally been held
in segregated quarters in the Kingston facility.
April 14, 1971
Five hundred inmates start a riot and take over
the prison. They hold guards hostage and drape banners from
the top of the six-storey dome; one of them reads, "What
about our human rights?" They tell a citizens' advisory
committee and journalists that they are afraid of being transferred
to the new "high-tech" prison at Millhaven. They
also complain about police brutality, poor living conditions
in the penitentiary, and the changes in the Parole Act of
1969, which brought about mandatory supervision. Troops are
called in to surround the institution.
At the end of the four-day siege, two inmates are dead and
11 injured.
October 23, 1993
Twenty-three-year-old Robert Gentles of Hamilton
refuses to turn down the music on his radio and guards enter
his cell. The guards spray Gentles with mace and allegedly
hold him down on the bed where he suffocates and dies. A coroner's
jury later acquitted the guards of any wrongdoing. Gentles
was serving 31 months for sexual assault.
May 6, 1994
Six women are involuntarily transferred to a segregated
range in the Kingston Penitentiary. Upon application to the
Ontario Court, General Division, the court orders that the
women be moved back to P4W [the Prison for Women] from Kingston
Penitentiary. Moreover, the court holds that the confinement
of women in men's prisons would require a legislative amendment.
September 1, 1995
Paul Bernardo is convicted of kidnapping, sexual
assault and murder; he is incarcerated to this day in an administrative
segregation cell in the Kingston Penitentiary.
November, 1995
The penitentiary is locked down because of a work
action being held by the guards. The standoff between the
guards and management lasts a week.
May 8, 1999
Thirty-two-year-old Tyrone Conn is the first inmate to
escape from Kingston Penitentiary in more than 40 years. He
was serving a 47-year sentence for a variety of offences including
armed robbery. Conn eluded capture for 13 days before police
caught up with him in midtown Toronto. Conn allegedly committed
suicide rather than turn himself over to authorities. Conn
was speaking on the telephone to a producer from the CBC when
he died.
July 2000
The Kingston Prison for Women closes down.
August 2002
New $4.1-million, 20-cell segregation
unit is opened at Kingston Penitentiary. The state-of-the-art
disassociation unit is where prisoners are sent if they break
the internal rules of the prison.
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| QUICK FACTS: |
Date opened: 1835
Security level: Maximum
Rated capacity: 431*
Number of inmates: 372*
Number of inmates that are double bunked: 0*
*As of March 31, 1999 |
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| CBC MEDIA: |
 World Report's Maureen Brosnahan on the Kingston story. (Nov. 15, 2004 Runs 1:50)
On The Current, CBC Radio's Maureen Brosnahan reports. (Nov. 15, 2004 Runs 24:37)
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