1990 Strangeways Prison riot courts, hangings, castrations and that between eleven and twenty prisoners had been killed. On 3 April the front page of the "Daily Mirror" read "Prison Mob 'Hang Cop' ", and claimed a former policeman imprisoned at Strangeways for rape had been killed by prisoners. The newspaper was forced to publish a retraction admitting that "reliable police sources" had been mistaken, when it transpired that the man was actually alive and imprisoned in HM Prison Leeds. Following the end of the rooftop protest the newspapers condemned the prisoners, with "The Daily Telegraph" describing the riot as "a degrading public spectacle", and
Fremantle Prison riot except for lighting and basic toilet facilities. The prison population was divided into 4 divisions; 3 division housing violent prisoners and 4 division housing murderers and those serving long term sentences. The morning of the riot began as an ordinary day would, with cells unlocked at 7:00 am. There was a "scuffle" between a prisoner and guards over the time taken to leave his cell – resulting in that prisoner being sent to solitary confinement – but that was not particularly unusual. Later that morning the prisoner was released into the exercise yard, where he reported to his fellow prisoners