Patrick Kanate has previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter for 2010 stabbing death of his cousin, 25-year-old Keegan Williams, as well as several charges relating to an assault and hostage taking at the Kenora District Jail in 2018
Thunder Bay Courthouse (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)
THUNDER BAY Defence counsel for a man charged in a hostage-taking situation at the Kenora Jail where several inmates held a correctional officer captive said his client only became involved because he was under duress.
Ryan Nickel, 33, pleaded guilty on Friday, April 9, to one count of unlawfully forcibly confining a person and assault in connection with a 2018 incident where a correctional officer at the Kenora Jail was assaulted and then held captive by a violent prisoner as other inmates made demands for drugs in exchange for his release.
In total, seven inmates were charged in connection with the offence and all received various sentences for their respective roles in the hostage-taking event.
The Kenora Jail
THUNDER BAY Two of seven inmates involved in the hostage-taking of a correctional officer at the Kenora jail in 2018 each entered guilty pleas to various charges stemming from the 2018 incident this week.
On Wednesday, April 7, Travis Polkinghorne, 30, pleaded guilty to a string of charges arising from an incident that took place more than two years ago at the Kenora Jail where a correctional officer was beaten, dragged and held captive by a prisoner with a shank as other inmates made demands for drugs in exchange for his release.
Polkinghorne pleaded guilty to hostage-taking, two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, disarming a peace officer, possession of a prohibited weapon, and uttering threats to cause death. He was handed a six-year jail sentence.