Coroner must investigate string of deaths at provincial jails
by British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
Four violent or sudden deaths in the last ten months
at provincial jails has caused the BCCLA to demand that the Coroner
begin ordering inquests into jail deaths again.
Up until 2007, when
someone died in prison, a full inquest into that death was mandatory.
Amendments that year changed the rules allowing “discretionary”
inquests, and no inquests have been held since.
“We don’t even know the name of the prisoner or the
circumstances of one of the deaths that took place in January of this
year,” notes Robert Holmes, Q.C., President of the BCCLA, who says the
BCCLA has only been able to compile names and details of deaths from
limited media reports.
“That neither this death, nor any of the other
six deaths we’ve been able to track since the law changed have been
brought to a public inquest is extremely concerning.”
- In January of 2008 John Parker was beaten to death by his cell mate at North Fraser.
- In March of 2008, Kyle Wigham died of a heroin overdose at Fraser Regional.
- In July of 2010, Dean Hopkins died of a drug overdose at Kamloops Regional.
- In October of 2010, Robbie Slatten died after overdosing on methadone that was administered by the facility’s staff.
- On January 14th, 2011, at North Fraser Pre-Trial, a prisoner
died, and the BCCLA has been unable to find the prisoner’s name or the
circumstances of the death in any publicly accessible database or
record.
- In April of this year, Blair Cody was beaten to death by another prisoner at Fraser Regional.
“We are seeing an escalation in deaths that are
being blamed by corrections officials on overcrowding and inadequate
facilities,” said Holmes. “The public must be assured that if they are
arrested, for whatever reason, and taken to jail, that they won’t be
beaten to death or given fatal doses of medication by staff. The lack of
oversight of our jails currently, especially in light of at least four
deaths in ten months, is inexcusable.”
BCCLA letter to Chief Coroner Lapointe >>
