TORONTO — Jurors examining the death of a mentally ill man at an Ontario jail are being asked to find he died as a result of a homicide.
Coroner’s counsel this morning laid out a series of proposed recommendations for jurors at the inquest into the death of Soleiman Faqiri to consider to help prevent similar deaths in the future.
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.
Establishing a cause of death is one of the findings jurors must make, but it does not carry legal liability, and the recommendations they make are not binding.
Coroner’s counsel Prabhu Rajan presented 56 jointly proposed recommendations for jurors to consider, including the creation of an independent provincial oversight body for the correctional system that could look into complaints and launch its own investigations.
Lawyers for a number of organizations and parties with standing in the inquest are now making their closing submissions to the jury.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
