The Headingley Correctional Centre (formerly Headingley Correctional Institution and Headingley Gaol) is a provincial prison in the Rural Municipality of Headingley, Manitoba. Administered by Manitoba Corrections, it has minimum, medium, and maximum security facilities for a rated population of 549 adult males.

History

Headingley Gaol was opened in October 1930, with 48 staff and 270 inmates who had been moved from other institutions. At first holding both males and females, Headingley became a males-only facility in 1931, when females were sent to

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. As of 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area of the city was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Hi ...

Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, via

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

s, was carried out at Headingley from 1932 to 1952, wherein a total of 25 hangings were carried out, including the execution of two

axe murder An axe murder is a murder in which the victim was struck and killed by an axe or hatchet. List of axe murders The following are some notable cases. *Wenno von Rohrbach, the first Master of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, was killed by ...

ers in May 1934.

Riots

Throughout the 1930s, there were 4 minor inmate revolts, and one in each of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Disturbances also occurred in 1971 and 1983. The most serious of all the riots to have taken place at Headingley broke out at 11:00 pm on 25 April 1996 and continued for 24 hours. The riot broke out as members of the rival Manitoba Warriors and Indian Posse gangs fought each other. A group of inmates controlled the prison over the course of two days. Eventually, 321 prisoners surrendered after rampaging, setting fires, and brutally attacking guards and inmates. While no one was killed, 8 guards and several prisoners were injured, some seriously, and were taken to Grace Hospital in Winnipeg; one prisoner lost fingers and another was almost

castrated Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmac ...

. The facility itself was extensively damaged, requiring months of repairs before inmates were returned; damage to the prison was estimated at $3.5 million, with renovations adding up to more than $10 million. All of the inmates were moved to Stony Mountain Penitentiary, Brandon Correctional Institute, or the Winnipeg Remand Centre. Subsequent police reports suggested that the riot seemed to target inmates who were either

informants An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

or segregated because of

sex crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

Notable inmates

Ole Thestrup Ole Svane Thestrup (12 March 1948 – 2 February 2018) was a Danish actor. He appeared in many Danish films, particularly those directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, as well as television and theatre roles. He had a recurring role in the political dra ...

— A Danish actor imprisoned in 1988 after he caused a disruption on board a

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

flight from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

which was forced to make an emergency landing in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. *

Peter Nygard Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

— Clothing designer, entrepreneur and accused sex trafficker. Is currently jailed at Headingley while awaiting extradition to the United States to face sex trafficking charges.

References

External links

Headingley Correctional Institution
(information provided by the Rural Municipality of Headingley, Manitoba)
Inside Prisons: Headingley Correctional Centre
Prisons in Manitoba Headingley, Manitoba

History

Riots

Notable inmates

References

Further reading

External links