‘Worst situation I’ve ever seen,’ officer testifies

As Shane Kent stood outside Cell 8 of the north dayroom at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, he could hear slapping, punching and shuffling of feet.

Seconds before the correctional officer made his way to the cell situated under the stairs of the two-storey unit, six inmates had entered the eight-by-10-foot room, where Stephen Anderson had ducked inside moments before.

What unfolded as Kent approached the cell was “the worst situation I’ve ever seen and been involved in,” the corrections officer testified during the first day of trial for six of the 15 men involved in an alleged attack at the Burnside jail on Dec. 2, 2019.

When Kent and his partner tried to get into the cell, they were met by several inmates who quickly grouped together to form a barricade.

As the two correctional officers remained blocked off from the cell, Kent said he could hear the sound of an altercation.

“You could hear him being exasperated of air,” Kent recalled, admitting he couldn’t see anything because the cell door had been forced shut by some of the inmates.

One of the officers called for backup but that code was quickly upgraded to an all staff, requesting all available officers in the facility to attend.

A couple of minutes later, the cell door opened and six inmates poured out.

There laid Anderson in the prone position, Kent testified.

“There was a lot of blood,” he said.

“He had some contusions to his eyes, he was starting to have some swelling in his head.”

In video footage shown to the courtroom, some of the inmates can be seen bumping fists, shaking hands and standing on tables after the incident.

Shortly after, the officers managed to return all of the inmates to their individual cells and lock down the unit before turning their attention to Anderson, who had suffered life-threatening injuries.

When questioned by Crown attorney Rick Woodburn as to why the officers didn’t use physical force to remove the inmates who were blocking the cell, Kent said the only option he had was to try to de-escalate the situation “given the numbers.”

“The physical aspect is out of the question,” Kent said.

Kent gave the same answer when asked why he didn’t use pepper spray, which officers are equipped with but only for “an individual situation, not a mass group.”

What’s commonly known as being bounced isn’t too uncommon, testified Andrew Miller, security risk manager at the Burnside facility.

It typically happens two ways, Miller said. An inmate is asked to leave and told something may happen if they don’t or they’re assaulted.

“I’ve experienced it probably 100 times,” said Miller, who’s worked at the jail since September 2008.

Kent said before the altercation went down, he had a “spidey sense” something was going to happen, including many of the inmates wearing shoes that can be purchased at the canteen, which are held on by Velcro.

“A lot of guys put those shoes on if there’s going to be an altercation because they stay on better,” said Kent, who also noted the dayroom was rather silent before the incident.

Six of the 15 accused — Colin Eric Ladelpha, Kirk Kenman Carridice, Jacob Matthew Lilly, Wesley Todd Hardiman, Omar Orlando

Mcintosh and Matthew Ross Lambert — appeared in front of Justice Jamie Campbell on Wednesday.

The 15 men are being tried by judge alone instead of a jury.

The trial for the six men is to continue Thursday and is expected to wrap up by Sept. 29.

All 15 men are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, unlawful confinement, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and obstructing correctional officers, but the others will have their trial at a later date due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions.