This HMP inmate says a rat gave birth in his pants — but it was no surprise

Her Majesty's Penitentiary inmate Devon Fitzpatrick says early one morning in mid-May he woke up and felt something moving in the crotch of his pants. When he reached in, he discovered a rat had given birth there.

But the incident wasn't shocking or even surprising, he said in a sit-down interview with CBC News.

An ongoing rodent infestation at the St. John's jail — parts of which date back to the Victorian era — means "stuff like that happens on a regular basis," said Fitzpatrick. 

"You see 'em coming in and out of your cell. They climb up on the tables, they climb up the pipes and the wires. They're everywhere," he said.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government announced in this year's provincial budget that it will spend $15 million over the next two years on temporary upgrades to the penitentiary, with $8 million earmarked for this year.

Plans to build a replacement for the jail were stalled for years. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister John Abbott told reporters last week that the provincial government is going to the "next stage" with New Avalon Corrections Partners, the only company that came forward with a proposal to build a new prison.

Abbott said the provincial government will soon announce more details about what the "next stage" is and predicted the prison would be completed some time in 2026 or 2027.

He told reports that "nothing really significant has started yet" when it comes to temporary upgrades to the jail.

The provincial Justice Department declined an interview request. A statement from department spokesperson Eric Humber said pest control is "contracted to service the facility on a regular basis."

Humber's statement also said work will begin on new outdoor recreation and programming spaces, as well as a new admissions building, in the coming weeks.

Fitzpatrick, who's been incarcerated for over 10 months on a variety of firearms and assault charges, says he's been bitten by rats around 20 times. Inmates are rarely let outside for recreation, he said, and aren't provided rehabilitation programming or adequate and timely health care.

Criminal defence lawyer Erin Breen says she has five clients at HMP. One of them tried to make a hammock out of his sheets, she told CBC News, because rodents were crawling over him through the night. Inmates have told her stories of finding rats and mice in their food, mattresses and clothing.

On a recent visit to the prison, she said, an inmate brought her a cup of water that had solid orange bits and an orange film floating in it.

Life in the prison is dehumanizing, she said, and if inmates aren't properly rehabilitated the public will pay the price.