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Better training for jail guards, around-the-clock medical coverage at the Innes Road jail, and a dedicated drug-sniffing dog for the facility are among the recommendations jurors have been asked to consider at the coroner’s inquest into the death of an inmate who choked on a “Kinder egg” filled with drugs.
The five-person jury began its deliberation Wednesday as they try to determine how and why Gregory Ingram died. The 33-year-old inmate choked when he tried to swallow a the plastic egg during a strip search at the jail, where he was being held on possession and trafficking charges.
Ingram died June 24, 2009, when his family took him off life-support, four days after the search. He had suffered irreparable brain damage after the plastic egg was lodged in his throat for about 20 minutes, according to testimony from Dr. Christopher Milroy, the forensic pathologist who did the post-mortem.
Ingram had only “trivial” physical injuries when he was brought to hospital and blood toxicology revealed only drugs that had been administered by medical staff and the “tentative” presence of the illegal opioid oxycodone, Milroy said. None was an influence on his death.
Ingram had been held a number of times at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre and was known to be active in “the narcotic subculture in the institution,” testified Steve Ashdown, the jail’s current security manager.
Ashdown described for jurors the methods used to search for contraband at the jail, including a strip search such as the one performed on Ingram after staff noticed him behaving strangely and suspected he was under the influence and drugs. Guards inspect the mouth, ears and armpits of inmates and will visually inspect the anal area, but are not allowed to conduct body-cavity searches, he said.
Ingram was seen to grab something from his underwear and putting it in his mouth during his strip search. Smuggling or hiding contraband inside the anal cavity is common among inmates, Ashdown said.
The jail uses metal-detecting wands and a chair equipped with a special scanner to detect contraband, but neither will find objects hidden in condoms, baggies or other plastic containers. Inmates suspected of hiding contraband are usually held in a special “dry” cell to prevent them from disposing of the material. Rarely, they are taken to hospital to be searched by a doctor.
The jail can call on the Ottawa police or Ontario Provincial Police K9 unit for drug searches. Currently there is only one dedicated drug-sniffing dog for all 32 Ontario jails, but the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services will soon have a K9 unit dedicated for the four jails in Eastern Ontario, Ashdown said. The dog would likely be available to make monthly sweeps at the OCDC.
Ashdown also testified that the jail is supposed to have a nurse on duty at all times — although that isn’t always the case because of illness or staffing issues — as well as a medical doctor on duty weekdays and on call at other times.
In her submission to the jury, coroner’s counsel Meghan Cunningham suggested four recommendations they could make.
• Jail staff be trained on and reminded of search policies and the need to maintain accurate records of searches;
• Review staffing at the jail to ensure 24/7 coverage by emergency medical staff;
• Review training of the jail’s medical staff, including scenario training; and
• Provide the Innes Road jail with its own drug-sniffing dog to allow more frequent contraband searches.
The inquest, under presiding coroner Dr. Bob Reddoch, had been sitting on Oct. 22 when it was locked down in the aftermath of a gunman’s attack at the National War Memorial and Parliament Hill. The inquest resumed Wednesday after a four-week break. The jury is expected to deliver its verdict Wednesday afternoon.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
The five-person jury began its deliberation Wednesday as they try to determine how and why Gregory Ingram died. The 33-year-old inmate choked when he tried to swallow a the plastic egg during a strip search at the jail, where he was being held on possession and trafficking charges.
Ingram died June 24, 2009, when his family took him off life-support, four days after the search. He had suffered irreparable brain damage after the plastic egg was lodged in his throat for about 20 minutes, according to testimony from Dr. Christopher Milroy, the forensic pathologist who did the post-mortem.
Ingram had only “trivial” physical injuries when he was brought to hospital and blood toxicology revealed only drugs that had been administered by medical staff and the “tentative” presence of the illegal opioid oxycodone, Milroy said. None was an influence on his death.
Ingram had been held a number of times at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre and was known to be active in “the narcotic subculture in the institution,” testified Steve Ashdown, the jail’s current security manager.
Ashdown described for jurors the methods used to search for contraband at the jail, including a strip search such as the one performed on Ingram after staff noticed him behaving strangely and suspected he was under the influence and drugs. Guards inspect the mouth, ears and armpits of inmates and will visually inspect the anal area, but are not allowed to conduct body-cavity searches, he said.
Ingram was seen to grab something from his underwear and putting it in his mouth during his strip search. Smuggling or hiding contraband inside the anal cavity is common among inmates, Ashdown said.
The jail uses metal-detecting wands and a chair equipped with a special scanner to detect contraband, but neither will find objects hidden in condoms, baggies or other plastic containers. Inmates suspected of hiding contraband are usually held in a special “dry” cell to prevent them from disposing of the material. Rarely, they are taken to hospital to be searched by a doctor.
The jail can call on the Ottawa police or Ontario Provincial Police K9 unit for drug searches. Currently there is only one dedicated drug-sniffing dog for all 32 Ontario jails, but the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services will soon have a K9 unit dedicated for the four jails in Eastern Ontario, Ashdown said. The dog would likely be available to make monthly sweeps at the OCDC.
Ashdown also testified that the jail is supposed to have a nurse on duty at all times — although that isn’t always the case because of illness or staffing issues — as well as a medical doctor on duty weekdays and on call at other times.
In her submission to the jury, coroner’s counsel Meghan Cunningham suggested four recommendations they could make.
• Jail staff be trained on and reminded of search policies and the need to maintain accurate records of searches;
• Review staffing at the jail to ensure 24/7 coverage by emergency medical staff;
• Review training of the jail’s medical staff, including scenario training; and
• Provide the Innes Road jail with its own drug-sniffing dog to allow more frequent contraband searches.
The inquest, under presiding coroner Dr. Bob Reddoch, had been sitting on Oct. 22 when it was locked down in the aftermath of a gunman’s attack at the National War Memorial and Parliament Hill. The inquest resumed Wednesday after a four-week break. The jury is expected to deliver its verdict Wednesday afternoon.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
