A female prisoner awaiting trial for a Cape Breton murder delivered more than 33 punches, kicks and knees to the head of another inmate known as “Crime Stoppers,” because women doing time at Halifax’s Burnside Jail believed she was a police informant.
The fight began with a handshake.
Pamela Hubley, who is left handed, had reached out to shake Carolyn Ann Dermody’s hand with her right in the jail’s “airing yard.” This was enough for the judge to consider the first few punches, thrown by Dermody in expectation of blows from Hubley’s dominant left, were in self-defence.
The fight was caught on surveillance cameras. After those first few shots, Dermody swung 22 times at Hubley, all within seconds of throwing the first punch. The fight, wrote Dartmouth provincial court judge Timothy Daley, quickly moved from self-defence to blows delivered with the purpose of “aggression, dominance and vengeance.”
“This included multiple strikes to the face with uppercuts using her right hand while holding Hubley’s sweatshirt with her left,” wrote Daley. She also hit Hubley repeatedly on the back of her head, “using a closed fist in what is often referred to as a ‘hammer fist’ punch.”
Hubley fell to her knees, covering her head with her hands. Grabbing ahold of Hubley’s sweatshirt and hair, Dermody punched Hubley 11 more times in the face and the back of the head. She also kicked and attempted to knee Hubley in the face.
Dermody was convicted Oct. 24 of assault causing bodily harm for the April 2024 attack.
The reasons for the assault: that Hubley was allegedly a snitch.
“I accept Dermody’s evidence that she believed, as did others, that Hubley was an undercover police officer, or at least a ‘rat’ who gathered information about the offences and inmates and used that to her advantage,” wrote Daley.
Hubley, according to the judge, described the pain after the fight as “10 out of 10,” and that she was shaking with pain from the attack.
The judge found that Hubley never fought back. “I also find that throughout the altercation, Hubley is face down while standing and face down when she falls to her knees.”
Paramedics took Hubley to hospital. An emergency room doctor examined her, indicating Hubley had “significant bruising and swelling to soft tissues in the face and blurry vision,” as well as pain and swelling in her left shoulder.
Hubley testified that she and Dermody had been imprisoned together for about two weeks before the altercation. Dermody testified that the pair had “hit and miss” interactions, with Hubley’s behaviour being anywhere from nice to intimidating. She also said that Hubley was trying to get information about her charges and testified that Hubley’s name within the jail was “Crime Stoppers” because she had been asking about others’ offences.
“(Dermody) was very clear that she and others believe that Hubley was an undercover cop, or at least a rat, and that this was unacceptable to anyone in the facility. It was her evidence that she believed that Hubley was looking to collect information about her and her offences. I find that this was at least part of the motive which became paramount soon after the altercation began. I find that Dermody was soon looking to exact vengeance, not to defend herself,” Daley wrote.
Hubley, 40, is 5’2” and weighs 160 pounds.
Dermody, who is 27 and three inches taller, weighed around 130 pounds at the time of the assault.
Dermody, of North Sydney, N.S., is one of three people charged with the murder of 48-year-old Natacha Leroy, a mother of six, at a home on Old Route 5 in Big Bras d’Or, on Nov. 22, 2023.
Dermody is slated to be sentenced Jan. 26, 2026, for the jail assault.
On the murder charge, her trial is scheduled to start March 30, 2026, in Sydney Supreme Court.
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