Inquest jury calls for better B.C. jail policies after inmate fight proves fatal
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:31:25 +0000
BURNABY — A coroner’s jury has made five recommendations in the death of a man who was attacked by another inmate at a jail in Surrey.
In recommendations issued Wednesday, the jury urged B.C. Corrections to improve video-monitoring systems and cell checks in the segregation unit at Surrey Pre-trial Centre where 25-year-old John Murphy fought with his cell mate in August 2016.
The jury also calls on corrections staff to consider policy changes that would keep inmates, who have already been violent toward each other, from being placed in the same cell while awaiting discipline.
Corrections officers eventually separated the men, but Murphy died in hospital and a lawsuit filed in 2018 by his parents against the province alleges doctors believe he had been choked for 10 to 15 minutes before staff intervened.
The allegations haven’t been proven in court and no other documents, including a statement of defence, were filed in the case.
The jury also recommends B.C. Corrections staff better comply with log-book documentation, visual checks, sharing of information at shift changes and it calls on B.C.’s ambulance service to work with the jail to improve access and response times.
Murphy’s 22-year-old attacker was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year and received a five-and-a-half-year sentence, although the term was almost cut in half after credit for time served.