A conflict revolving around applesauce allegedly led to the assault of two correctional officers by an inmate at the Rivière-des-Prairies prison in January 2022. The trial of Akim Bilodeau Joseph opened last Tuesday and lifts the veil on the tensions that can escalate between guards and prisoners.
The atmosphere is tense at Rivière-des-Prairies prison during the winter of 2022. Inmates are confined to their cells, with the pandemic and the severe lack of staff. Prisoners do not know when they will be able to go out into the common area or take a shower.
It is in this context that Alexandre Whaley and Iannick Tessier were allegedly beaten by three inmates from the Rivière-des-Prairies prison. Akim Bilodeau Joseph is said to have taken part in the attack. The 24-year-old man accused of serious assault against the two correctional officers is, according to our information, linked to the blue street gangs of the Saint-Michel district. However, his allegiance was not clarified in the courtroom.
PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM
The accused Akim Bilodeau Joseph is, according to our sources, affiliated with a blue street gang in the Saint-Michel district of Montreal.
This whole story would have started during the holiday season. Inmate Akim Bilodeau Joseph and correctional officer Alexandre Whaley argued about a month before the attack.
The shortage of personnel is then felt. Prisoners’ exits from cells are uncertain. We take it “day by day,” relates Mr. Whaley. “There was a certain tension that emanated from this regime. »
He says he faced the impatience of the inmates while he distributed “McDos”, prison jargon for a meal in a Styrofoam container accompanied by a carton of milk and applesauce.
Every time he places the “McDonalds” in front of the serving hatch of the cell, he is questioned about the exits. He says he doesn’t know the answer, that it depends on the numbers.
Akim Bilodeau Joseph asks him the same question.
Exasperated at having to answer for the sixth time, Alexandre Whaley lacked tact with the accused, he admits. “I didn’t have the same diplomacy as with the others. My tone was perhaps a little sharper,” Mr. Whaley admits in his testimony.
“He didn’t appreciate my tone of voice,” the correctional officer continued.
When the milk cartons spill, Mr. Whaley believes that the young criminal wanted to throw them in his direction.
According to Mr. Bilodeau Joseph, the correctional officer then threw an applesauce in his direction. He found himself covered in compote. This is why he wanted to testify, he explained in court.
“We were very restricted, there were days when we didn’t take a shower. It’s restrictive in terms of food. We had no information. It lasts for months, weeks. »
The inmate felt targeted by Officer Whaley and misunderstood. ” It’s not acceptable [de lancer la compote]. I’m in the cell, I’m not a threat to him. »
He considers it unnecessary to file a complaint for the compote incident, because he knows “how the system works”. “I just want to be respected. »
Officer Whaley admitted that the compote had spilled on Mr. Bilodeau, but denied attacking the inmate. According to him, the prisoner was very angry and told him “I will remember you”.
Violent attack
Then everything happens on January 13, 2022. Correctional officer Alexandre Whaley and his colleague Iannick Tessier work in the upper right S2 pavilion, a security sector reserved for street gangs and their acolytes.
Every Thursday at Rivière-des-Prairies prison, it’s the canteen: an opportunity for inmates to buy food or calling cards.
There is a queue of about six people for the canteen when Akim Bilodeau Joseph decides to use one of the phones to call his girlfriend while waiting.
Agent Whaley orders him to hang up three times: this free time is reserved for the canteen only. Bilodeau Joseph would have told him to stop always being on his back, according to the guard. The young criminal still does not obey the request, explains the latter. Tone up.
Agent Tessier intervenes. And that’s where it gets tricky.
Agent Iannick Tessier (blue shirt) leaves alone after the attack. Reinforcements are arriving. His colleague Agent Whaley joins him a few seconds later.
According to his account, Officer Tessier pushes Mr. Bilodeau Joseph away, because he judges that the defendant is too close to him. The alleged assailant then hit Mr. Tessier’s arm. “There was a movement to make a punch on the part of the accused,” says Officer Whaley.
Officer Whaley was reportedly choked by another inmate. He cannot help his colleague. “I get strangled,” he says.
According to him, he managed to extricate his colleague from the fight towards the end.
“We have to get out of here, we won’t win,” Agent Whaley allegedly told his colleague.
“Mr. Bilodeau Joseph turned towards me and punched me in the face,” describes Iannick Tessier. However, he does not remember receiving help from his colleague to get out of this ordeal.
Concussion, psychological shock, injury to the eyebrow: Alexandre Whaley and Iannick Tessier find themselves on sick leave. Agent Tessier is transferred to another establishment upon his return.
Officer Whaley ends his career in corrections. “It’s impossible for me to go on and put myself back into situations like that,” he said, sobbing.
Still tensions
Animosity was still present in the courtroom. During Mr. Whaley’s testimony, Akim Bilodeau Joseph interrupts the latter and questions his version of the facts. “You are under oath there, don’t forget,” exclaimed the alleged attacker from the dock last Tuesday while the victim detailed the attack.
Bilodeau Joseph denies hitting anyone. Even more intriguing: each of the witnesses has different versions of the attack.
Me Nicolas Charron represents the public prosecutor while Me Vicky Powell defends Akim Bilodeau Joseph. His two co-defendants in this case, Patwayans Exantus and Maxime Monette, pleaded guilty the day before the trial. They each received a two-year sentence.
The case continues this Thursday with the pleadings.