Prison guard found guilty of assaulting inmate

For more than two decades, he worked with criminals as a correctional officer at a city jail.

On Wednesday, Wayne Patrick Carrigan found himself on the other side of the law.

The 51-year-old - who was caught on camera punching an unruly inmate while on duty at the St. John's Lockup last year - was convicted of assault causing bodily harm.

"Mr. Carrigan used more force than was needed or necessary," Judge Mark Pike said in rendering his decision at provincial court in St. John's.

"I, therefore, find him guilty as charged."

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Sept. 3.

Carrigan showed no reaction to the verdict and opted not to speak to reporters outside court.

He was one of two correctional officers charged following the incident at the lockup involving Christopher Mahon.

Mahon alleged that Carrigan and Michael Gerard Hanlon brutally attacked him, punching him repeatedly, on the night of March 22, 2008, after he had been arrested for allegedly assaulting his brother.

Police officers had brought Mahon to St. Clare's hospital to be treated for injuries prior to bringing him to the lockup, but hospital staff were unable to treat him because of his disruptive behaviour.

Testimony during the trial revealed that Mahon, who was intoxicated at the time, was "belligerent, resistant, combatant, verbally abusive and was spitting" at police officers and prison guards, who knew Mahon had Hepatitis C.

Surveillance video from inside the cell, or "drunk tank," captured the assault and was played several times in court.

Hanlon was also charged, but was found not guilty following his trial in December 2008, since it was unclear from the video whether or not he threw punches.

However, there was no doubt that Carrigan did.

He delivered eight successive blows to Mahon's head, leaving him with several bruises on his face and a gash above his eyebrow.

When Carrigan testified at Hanlon's trial, he confessed he had "lost it" with Mahon and admitted punching him.

The judge acknowledged Mahon had not been a helpful witness, but still determined Carrigan used excessive force.

"Given the number of guards that were on duty that night and the equipment available ... I've concluded that there were other options that could have been exercised," Pike said.

"There were other options that required less force and didn't require resorting to continued blows to the head."

Carrigan was suspended from his job after the incident and has since retired.

Neither Crown prosecutor Nick Westera nor defence lawyer Mark Rogers would discuss the sentences they will be seeking.

The maximum sentence for assault causing bodily harm is 10 years.

rgillingham@thetelegram.com