By Taylor MacPherson

Accused penitentiary rioter granted bail

Nov 8, 2017 | 4:11 PM

The youngest of the 14 men charged in connection with a fatal riot at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary was granted bail this afternoon and will be released from custody later this month.

John Linklater, 19, is charged with participating in a riot, committing mischief over $5,000 and obstruction of justice. Linklater is accused of covering a camera with an unidentified substance during the fatal riot in December of 2016, which damaged the camera and enabled the other rioters to commit crimes without fear of repercussion.

“Covering the cameras caused a great deal of difficulty,” Crown Prosecutor Maureen Longworth said.

Longworth said the rioters, who were upset over the meal portions inside the federal prison, caused extensive damage to the facility and to each other. Three inmates were injured by assaults during the riot and one inmate, Jason Bird, was killed.

While nearly 200 inmates participated in the riot, Longworth said some inmates willingly returned to their cells. Linklater, like the other rioters, chose to participate, Longworth said.

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“He made a choice to involve himself in this riot,” she said. “This man decided to take an active role.”

Defence lawyer Rebecca Crookshanks said Linklater was seeking bail because he was already set to be released on parole later this month.

After the riot, Linklater was transferred from the prison’s medium-security unit into maximum-security, Crookshanks said, but was able to earn his way back to medium through good behavior. Linklater has not been accused of any crimes in the 11 months since the riot, she said, and is unlikely to find himself in a similar situation after his release.

“The offences here are very institution-specific,” she said.

Judge Marty Irwin acknowledged the death and destruction caused by the rioting inmates, but noted that the violence could not be attributed directly to Linklater and granted the young man’s bail. Linklater will be released Nov. 17 to live with his girlfriend and her mother in Winnipeg.

Linklater will return to court as a free man in December to answer the charges. He is presumed innocent at this stage.

taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews

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