Inmate was in restraints when he died at Lindsay jail: sources

A 30-year-old man died while in restraints in a segregation cell at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay earlier this month.

The family of Soleiman Faqiri says he was waiting for a bail hearing when he died.

“We were told nothing,” Faqiri’s older brother Yusuf tells CityNews. “All we were told is that Soleiman died when the guards entered the cell.”

Several sources confirm that a “use of force” was executed prior to Faqiri’s death. He was put in restraints. He was locked back up in his cell. He died.

As CityNews first reported, Faqiri died on December 15th at the Lindsay super jail. CityNews has since learned that over a dozen correctional officers and managers are now suspended.

The Coroner’s office is investigating his death, as is the Kawartha Lakes police department and the Ministry of Correctional Services. A Coroner’s inquest – called whenever somebody dies of unnatural causes while in custody – is expected.

“My brother died in custody, my brother died in jail. People were aware of his medical condition, but he died,” Yusuf says.

Soleiman’s family says the former star athlete and straight-A student suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He was diagnosed 11 years ago, in his first year of studies at the University of Waterloo.

“That would change the trajectory of his life. What it didn’t change was his character – his ability to connect with people. The light that he espoused… it increased,” his brother says choking back tears.

“He had this grin, this smile. He would walk into the room, you would really know how lucky you were because he was the epitome of simplicity. He appreciated the small things in life. He would make you grateful for what you had.”

Faqiri was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault and another count of uttering death threats on December 4th. His family says he was being held at Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) and was waiting for a bail hearing. They claim they haven’t spoken to him since his arrest.

“Several times we were told he was in lockdown and that we couldn’t see him,” Yusuf explains.

Correctional officers we spoke with say that they can’t recall an institution-wide lockdown during that time-period – but explain that different units may have been in lockdown at various times due to staffing shortages.

The family doesn’t know if Soleiman was taking medication while incarcerated but a mental health assessment was ordered for December 12th.

“His illness was well-documented by medical practitioners, but on the one time that I spoke with staff there, I also articulated that my brother had a medical condition,” said Yusuf.

CECC does not have specially-designated mental health beds, so inmates suffering from mental health illnesses are often housed in solitary confinement “for their own protection, and the safety of other inmates and staff,” Monte Vieselmayer, the Corrections’ caucus chair, has said in the past. And that’s where Faqiri was being held when the altercation between him and the officers began, and he ultimately lost his life.

This all happened against the backdrop of the provincial jails grappling with new rules for segregation’s use and the province developing better training programs for correctional staff working with inmates suffering from mental health issues.

Ministry of Correctional Services staff say the Minister will not comment, pending the investigation.

Staff at CECC, like many other institutions, say their training on the use of restraints and on best practices for handling inmates with mental health issues is inadequate. Many say they haven’t even received training in this fields in years.

The ministry could not provide up-to-date numbers for training completion at CECC.

Yusuf, who works at the Ministry of the Attorney General, says the family has not been contacted by the Ministry of Correctional Services or the jail itself. They only learned of Soleiman’s death when a Durham police officer knocked on their door last week.

“To be notified, as a mother or father that your son is dead and as a sibling that your brother is dead, it is as if someone is ripping your heart apart on multiple occasions. But what’s even worse is that you’re not given any answers. You’re not told anything. All you’re told is that your brother died when the guards entered his cell. That’s all we were told.”

“This could have happened to anybody … we just want answers.”