Does the Barton Street jail have a deadly drug problem?
Weekend death may be added to growing drug death inquest
The coroner's office is examining the latest death from inside the Barton Street jail to see if it’s linked to drugs. If it is, it will likely be added to an inquest planned for the coming months that will probe four previous drug deaths in the jail over the past couple of years..
The Ministry of Corrections has confirmed an inmate was found dead inside the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre over the weekend, but won’t say how he died. A source with inside knowledge told CBC Hamilton the death appears to be drug related.
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An autopsy has been performed, and officials are now waiting for toxicology reports to come back to confirm a cause of death, said regional coroner Dr. Jack Stanborough. That report could take up to two months to come back.
An inquest is already planned to examine the four other drug deaths inside the Barton Street jail that have occurred since 2012 and Stanborough is prepared to add this one if it turns out to be drug related. “I think that would make a lot of sense,” Stanborough said. “It’s an option we’d have to look at pretty closely.
“This is a significant amount of deaths in the last two years.”
In an inquest, the coroner's office would be examining the possibility of a systemic drug problem brewing inside the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre and how to address it. A coroner's inquest is mandatory any time an inmate dies an "unnatural death."
The latest death means five inmates have died inside the jail since 2012.
According to a source, the latest death was revealed after an inmate was found unresponsive in his cell around 9 a.m. on Feb. 15 alongside drug paraphernalia and a white powder.
Both jail guards and paramedics attempted CPR at the scene, but the inmate wasn’t revived.
Two inmates also overdosed last week at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, but were revived.
A 32-year-old Toronto lawyer was also arrested last week for allegedly smuggling drugs into a Toronto courthouse.