The aftermath of the 1988 riots.

Restored division 3

The Fremantle prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on January 4, 1988 at Fremantle Prison, in Western Australia. The riot was organised as a diversion for an escape that was to take place. Prisoners created a fire as part of the diversion, and temperatures inside the cells were recorded at 52.2 °C (126 °F). Seventy prisoners took control of 3 and 4 divisions, taking 15 ^[1] officers hostage. The fire caused AU$1.8 million in damage and unintentionally prevented the planned escape. A prison riot is a riot that occurs in a prison, usually when those incarcerated rebel openly against prison guards. ... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A recreation of typical 1855 cell accommodation. ... Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person (3rd) Population (December 2006)  - Population  2,050,900 (4th)  - Density  0. ... Celsius is, or relates to, the Celsius temperature scale (previously known as the centigrade scale). ... Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ... A Correction officer is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision of prisoners in a prison or jail. ... ISO 4217 Code AUD User(s) Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island Inflation 3. ...

Background to riot

Fremantle Prison was built using convict labour during the 1850s, with the design based on Pentonville Jail, and was the maximum security prison for male offenders in Western Australia. During the 1890s the size of the cells were doubled by removing a join wall between two cells. The conditions in the cells remained unchanged except for lighting and basic toilet facilities. The population was divided into 4 divisions, division 3 housing violent prisoners and division 4 housing murderers and those serving long term sentences. HMP Pentonville Pentonville Prison in 1842 HM Prison Pentonville is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person (3rd) Population (December 2006)  - Population  2,050,900 (4th)  - Density  0. ...

Twelve men, including Brenden Abbott, planned a mass escape from Fremantle prison. To do this they used a diversionary riot and fire. During the two weeks prior to the riot they collected 3 litres (⅔  US gallon) of fuel from lawnmowers, which they managed to conceal in their drink bottles. Brenden James Abbott (born 8 May 1962 in Footscray, Melbourne) is an infamous Australian bank robber known as the Postcard Bandit. ... The liter (spelled liter in American English and litre in Commonwealth English) is a unit of volume. ... The gallon (abbreviation: gal) is a unit of volume. ...

The riot

Just before 4:00pm (1600) two prisoners were brought in from the exercise yards in division three to deliver tea and hot water to the cells as the other inmates were locked away. They had two twenty-five litre drums of boiling water stationed on the top floor above the gates, which was perfectly normal. Five officers were stationed in the division on this day, and as two officers opened the gates to let the prisoners in, fifty litres of boiling water was poured on their heads. At that moment, seventy violent prisoners from division three rushed in through the gates at once. They very quickly overpowered the officers, and locked them in the yards. The prisoners now had the cell keys, and they made their way to the top floor, opening every cell and throwing down anything removable that would burn, and piled it up at the doorway at the end of the division. Tea leaves in a Chinese gaiwan. ...

The fire they created was much bigger than they anticipated and the flames quite literally reached the roof. The roof was the original jarrah timber built 140 years prior, and before long half of the third division and all of the fourth division was a raging inferno that could be seen from Perth. Images were broadcast live across national television. Camera crews in helicopters filmed the chaos as the prison collapsed. From the air it appeared as if no efforts were being made to extinguish the fire; efforts were being made but the main gates were made in 1850 by convicts and were too narrow to get fire engines through. The fire continued for nineteen hours until the flames were brought under control. Subspecies subsp. ... The Perth skyline viewed from the Swan River This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) Year 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

After the fire was under control, the prisoners negotiated a trade of the prison officers for food. They then agreed to return control of the prison back to the guards. Although 15 officers were injured (two of them seriously), nobody was killed.

Aftermath

In February 1988 a report into the causes of the riot was prepared. The report suggested that little evidence supports the escape plan theory common in the media, but that the riot was largely the result of an incident of that morning involving the mistreatment of a prisoner and his subsequent release into three division yard.^[2] Total damages to the prison amounted to AU$1.8 million, including the cost of restoring the roof to original condition. The riot highlighted the poor conditions inside the jail and two years after the prison was closed with most prisoners being transferred to the new Casuarina Prison. The prison was turned into a tourist attraction which is now nationally heritage listed. A trial was held at a cost of AU$3 million and 33 men were charged. The twelve ring leaders were given six years on top of their current sentences, two of those in near solitary conditions. Brenden Abbott successfully escaped from Fremantle prison in 1989 and spent 5 ¹⁄₂ years on the run before being caught in Queensland. ISO 4217 Code AUD User(s) Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island Inflation 3. ... Casuarina Prison ( ) is the main maximum security prison for Western Australia, located near Perth. ... Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to as the hole (or in British English the block), is a punishment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding guards, chaplains and doctors. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  4,070,400 (3rd)  - Density  2. ...

References

• Commemoration, Voices & Museums Report Accessed April 30, 2006.
• Pedley, Derek, Australian Outlaw - The True Story of Postcard Bandit Brenden Abbott, Sly Ink, 2006. ISBN 0-9775440-1-X