6 Burnside inmates charged with attacking guards in alleged swarming

Six inmates at the provincial jail in Burnside including a man accused of two shooting deaths facecharges following an attack on two guards this spring.

On May 31, one correctional officer was allegedlypunched in the face after opening a cell doorat theCentral Nova Scotia Correctional Centre and another was swarmed by severalinmates when he tried to help. An inmate was also injured in a subsequent attack.

Tyrell Dechamp, 28, is charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer. He also facestwo first-degree murder charges in relation to the April 2016 deaths of Tyler Richards and Naricho Clayton. The menwere gunned down within two days of one another.

Dechampwas arraigned on the two new chargesin Dartmouth provincial court on July 17 and is due back on Aug. 14.

Hehas been in provincial custody on remand since finishing a federal sentencelast December following a conviction for a stabbing and an aggravated assault. He was arrested upon his release from the Atlantic Institution, a maximum security prison in northern New Brunswick.

Five other inmates are charged with assault on a peace officer in relation to the jail attack. Three of themalso facecharges of breaching court orders.

The Department of Justice said there were eight assaults on staff and 13 assaults on inmates at the jail in Burnside betweenApril and June.

Since then, Halifax Regional Police said they also responded to an assault on a correctional officer on July 10. They are still investigating what happened and no charges have been laid.