Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre
prison in Ontario, Canada
The Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) is a maximum security provincial jail located on the outskirts of London, Ontario. Opened in 1977, the facility is operated by the province of Ontario, serving the region of Southwestern Ontario.
The prison, known regionally for its harsh conditions and numerous deaths in custody, is often described as "overcrowded, unsanitary and dangerous". Although EMDC currently has capacity to house a maximum of 353 inmates, the facility routinely operates beyond this limit. Approximately 70% of EMDC prisoners are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.
EMDC's 22,000 square foot Regional Intermittent Centre (RIC) was opened in 2016 to allow inmates serving intermittent sentences to be held separately from the general prison population. Despite shuttering the RIC Centre in 2021, the Ford government later announced its intention to reopen the facility by 2026 in order to address overcrowding.
Prison conditions and deaths
EMDC has frequently made local and regional headlines due to persistent concerns about the security of the inmates at the prison as well as prison overcrowding. The prison has been nicknamed "the devil's playground". At least 23 individuals have died while incarcerated at EMDC between 2009 and 2024:
Randy Drysdale (April 25, 2009)
Laura Straughan (November 13, 2009)
Adam Kargus (October 31, 2013)
Keith Patterson (September 29, 2014)
Jamie High (December 23, 2014)
Floyd Deleary (August 23, 2015)
Justin Thompson (October 31, 2016)
Raymond George Major (June 6, 2017)
Michael Fall (July 30, 2017)
Murray Davis (August 17, 2017)
Ronald Jenkins (December 9, 2017)
Justin Struthers (December 26, 2017)
James Pigeau (January 7, 2018)
Sean William Tourand-Brightman (March 31, 2019)
Chase Blanchard (June 22, 2019)
Malcolm Ripley (November 25, 2020)
Tyler Lancha (March 21, 2021)
Clayton (Danny) Bissonnette (March 24, 2021)
Brandon Marchant (July 6, 2021)
Ronald Jack (September 13, 2022)
Jamie Briggs (November 16, 2022)
Bryan Michael Myers (February 16, 2024)
Matthew Bouvier (October 24, 2024)
Inmates' deaths have ranged from natural causes (e.g.
“Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre” enters the record as prison in Ontario, Canada. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elgin-Middlesex, Detention and Centre can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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