Dramatic video of a jailhouse brawl led to a guilty plea in Saskatoon provincial court Friday.
The April 7 security footage from the Saskatoon Correctional Centre’s secure unit shows a gruesome fight between two groups of inmates.
Three inmates confront two others before the situation quickly escalates. Knives come out. Chairs and broom handles become weapons.
Prison guards storm in only after the fight quiets down.
Twenty-two-year-old James Longneck pleaded guilty to attempted murder in connection to the fight.
“On the video you’ll see one of the victims strike the co-accused, and my client ends up coming to his aid, pulling out the knife shank from his rear and begins striking the victims in this case,” said defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle.
The defence said the number of stab wounds and attempted stabbings in the video are in the dozens. At one point the video shows one of the inmates striking another one with a broom. He goes down and has to be dragged away.
“There are a couple of issues here — certainly some suggestions that this was an ongoing tension between two sides and, definitely, undertones of gang affiliation,” said Pfefferle.
Longneck was already serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter. His sentence was extended to eight years following Friday’s plea.
“The accused is very relieved to put aside all his charges… so all he has now is the time to do,” said Pfefferle.
The defence said the victim had multiple stab wounds to the torso, chest and neck — though they ultimately proved to be non-fatal.
