Jurors examining the death of a mentally ill man at an Ontario jail were asked Friday to find he died as a result of a homicide as they consider dozens of possible recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.
In his closing submissions, coroner’s counsel Prabhu Rajan called the death of Soleiman Faqiri a “preventable tragedy” that highlights the “profoundly problematic” manner in which people experiencing mental illness are treated in Ontario’s correctional system.
He laid out 56 jointly proposed recommendations for jurors to review and potentially adopt, including the creation of an independent provincial oversight body for the correctional system that could look into complaints and launch its own investigations.
Other proposed recommendations include establishing a dedicated agency to deliver and oversee health care within the correctional system; creating special needs units with specialized staff within correctional facilities; setting up formalized relationships between correctional centres and psychiatric hospitals; and ensuring people with mental health issues undergo an assessment of their fitness to stand trial within 24 hours of entering the judicial system.
Others relate to mental-health and use-of-force training for correctional staff, greater co-ordination between corrections and health-care providers, and a family-centred approach to ensure relatives of those in custody are kept informed and given compassionate support.
“You have the power to send a message through your recommendations to tell those who themselves have the power to make change to do what it takes … to ensure that what happened to Soleiman can never happen again, that this is an urgent and potentially fatal problem that absolutely needs immediate solutions,” Rajan told jurors.
“Because as we heard, there are others with serious mental health issues at this moment, who reside at CECC (the jail where Faqiri was held) and likely reside at other correctional facilities.”
Faqiri died in his segregation cell at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., on Dec. 15, 2016, after a violent struggle with correctional officers.
He had been taken to the jail after allegedly stabbing a neighbour while experiencing a mental health crisis, and the inquest heard his condition deteriorated significantly while in custody.
While many correctional and medical staff members voiced concerns about Faqiri, he wasn’t taken to hospital, nor did he see a psychiatrist, the inquest has heard.
Establishing a cause of death is one of the findings jurors must make, but it does not carry legal liability. Jurors are not required to make recommendations, and any they do issue are not binding.
Lawyers for a number of organizations and parties with standing in the inquest are making their closing submissions to the jury Friday afternoon.