Warkworth Institution

source:Correctional Service Canada. The reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made, in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Correctional Service of Canada

Warworth Institution

>> Latest News

April 1, 2006: Mafia don Pat Musitano of the Musitano crime family, was recently approved by a judge to be transferred from his medium-security custody at Warkworth to a minimum security facility at Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst. While it is something Musitano has been fighting to get for the past few years, he won't stay long at Beaver Creek, with his statutory release date set at October 5.

In 2000, Mustiano was convicted of conspiring to murder rival crime boss Carmen Barillaro. A joint report by the RCMP, Hamilton Police, Halton Police, OPP, and Niagra Police released that same year confirmed that Musitano was kingpin of the Musitano crime family. The hit on Barillaro was considered a key achievement in the attempt by the Musitano family to gain control over Hamilton's illegal gambling and drug market. (The Hamilton Spectator, 1 April 2006)

6 Dec 2005: Ken Cripps, a representative of the 180 Warkworth guards under the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, stated that officers at Warkworth are "outnumbered" and are unable to protect themselves from inmate weapons. Weapons he mentioned included knives, clubs, and other homemade pieces. He also mentioned an incident the previous week in which a gang member had to be talked out of giving up his homemade, 18 cm-long blade. Cripps pressed for arming guards with pepper spray, batons, and stab-proof vests, which, although available, require permission from the supervisor.

27 April 2005: Warkworth went into lockdown mode after a 32 year-old inmate was stabbed. The victim was rushed to hospital and sustained non life-threatening injuries. An OPP Forensic Identification Team began an investigation the following day to collect evidence (Broadcast News).

8 April 2004: Warkworth was locked-down after a officials discovered at 8 a.m. a prison letter detailing a bomb-threat, including the placement of several explosives around the prison. An OPP bomb squad began conducting a search. (Broadcast News)

18 February 2003: Two inmates took a fellow inmate hostage for 15 hours before being overpowered by an emergency response team, releasing the hostage unharmed. Warkworth went into lockdown after the inmates barricaded themselves into a cell with the hostage inmate at 11 p.m. Monday. They attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate with the response team until they swept in and took control of the situation. The hostage takers were sent to maximum-security Millhaven Institution (The Canadian Press).

November 2002: 58 year-old Inmate David Boyd dies in custody, stimulating an inquest and a recommendation that all inmates who make health complaints must have their medical file reviewed before medical advice is given (Broadcast News, 25 Feb 2004).

20 September 2001: A Warkworth staff member, 41 year-old Terrence Buffett, was suspended and charged with attempting to smuggle six vials of hashish oil into the prison. He was charged by the OPP with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking (The Canadian Press).

24 November 2000: 25 year-old David Russell Norris escaped from Warkworth Institution and went on to attack, bite, and sexually molest a 2 year-old toddler. Norris was sent back to Warkworth for six more years. Interestingly, the child's 25 year-old mother was also charged, with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

20 September 2000: 23 year-old Junior Spencer, awaiting trial at the West Detention Centre, and Christopher Higginbottom, a convicted pedophile, were both charged in conducting a child porn manufacturing and distrubtion operation from inside the walls at Warkworth. In prison, the two men were members of "The Family," an approximate 25-member group that encourages sex with children, and that was believed to be exchanging and distributing thousands of email messages and images of young children across the internet, with the help of non-incarcerated people on the outside. Indeed, shortly after Toronto police seized thousands of these messages and images from homes across Toronto. Images included depictions of children nude and in "sexually explicit positions." Police believed that the children had been "lured" by members of "The Family" into participating in the operation using various unidentified children's community associations and incentives such as gifts. The inmates and the "Family" had been profiting from the distribution ring, but police would not disclose precise figures (The Toronto Star).

9 August 2000: William Frederick Challis was found hanging in his segregation unit cell by several torn bedsheets. An inquest was later scheduled for the following month. 21 year-old Challis, who was serving four years for asssault, theft, and weapon possession, had been transferred to segregation after trying to escape with another inmate (The Canadian Press).

19 August 1985: two inmates, both considered dangerous but unarmed, escaped from Warkworth by stealing an institution pickup truck and ramming through the prison gates at 9 p.m. They later abandoned the truck and ran away on foot. One of the inmates, 25 year-old Frederick Wilkinson, was serving a life sentence for murder, while the other was due for release that November after serving a sentence for break-and-enter and theft (The Globe and Mail).

 Post your prison stories, news, or announcements for this prison here!
This is a new discussion board seeking contributions from correctional employees, past inmates,  and  anyone significantly connected to Warkworth Institution.
We welcome any new contribution, including personal thoughts, future directions, criticism, comments, responses, commentary, proposals, discussions, awareness campaigns, or anything else you think is significant to this prison.