Justin Harvey jailed for HMP chapel riot, assaulting inmate with mug

A St. John's man has been sentenced to more jail time for two incidents which occurred while he was in custody at Her Majesty's Penitentiary last year. 

Justin Harvey, 24, was one of several men who took part in a riot inside the chapel of the province's largest prison in February 2014, which left inmate Kenny Green beaten and bloodied, with puncture wounds.

While Harvey didn't assault Green, he did take part in the riot by smashing a piece of church pew, thereby contributing to the overall chaos and destruction.

A month later, on March 6, 2014, Harvey beat another inmate, Jason Marsh, with a towel-wrapped mug.

Crown attorney Danny Vavasour, who called it a "vicious, cowardly assault," said Harvey was only stopped when correctional officers pepper sprayed him.

Marsh was left with four staples to the back of his head. 

It was Harvey's defence that Marsh had walked into his cell that day and threatened his life that day and had a homemade knife.

However, no weapon was ever found and Judge Colin Flynn didn't accept that argument. 

Left to the 'mercy' of Harvey

Flynn noted that Marsh shouldn't have been allowed to enter Harvey's cell, as seen on surveillance video entered as evidence, because it's against the rules at HMP.

Marsh was left to the "mercy" of Harvey, Flynn said, because it took correctional officers "sometime" to respond to the assault.

For both incidents inside the penitentiary, Flynn sentenced Harvey to a year and a half in jail, taking to account time-served.

Harvey, who has acknowledged he has anger issues, will be on two years probation following his release. 

Meanwhile, Harvey's co-accused Calvin Kenny and Jody Clarke will be sentenced for their roles on May 21.