Fremantle Prison riot

This article is about the 1988 riot. For earlier riots, see Riots at Fremantle Prison.

The Fremantle Prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on 4 January 1988 at Fremantle Prison, in Western Australia. Prisoners created a fire and temperatures inside the cells were recorded at 52.2 °C (126.0 °F). 3 division and 4 division were taken over by a total of seventy prisoners, and 5 officers were taken hostage. The fire caused A$1.8 million, equivalent to A$4.6 million in 2022, in damage and unintentionally prevented the planned escape.

It was suggested by the media that the riot and fire was staged as a diversion by twelve men, including Brenden Abbott, to assist a mass escape from the prison. However, an official report concluded their was little evidence to support this, and that the riot was largely the result of an incident that morning involving the mistreatment of a prisoner. Outdated conditions at the prison, which was built during the 1850s and had no flushing toilets, or heating or cooling, had exacerbated tensions. Calls for the closure of the prison had been delayed for decades, and the riot is credited with fast-tracking the final closure of the prison three years later.

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