Inmate sues province after alleged jail cell attack

A Saskatoon jail inmate is suing the Saskatchewan government, alleging he was stabbed in his sleep by another inmate who was put in his cell after being violent toward others.

On Feb. 15, Dustin Barrette was asleep in his cell at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre when he was attacked by someone he only knows as “Travis,” according to a statement of claim filed in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.

Allegations in a statement of claim have not been proven in court.

The claim says that prior to being put in Barrette’s cell, Travis had consumed an illegal drug or substance “with the result that he became uncontrollably aggressive and violent, and physically attacked and assaulted other inmates.”

Instead of isolating Travis, corrections officers “negligently and wrongfully” put Travis in Barrette’s cell, the claim alleges.

While Barrette was sleeping, Travis allegedly stabbed him with a homemade knife and repeatedly punched and struck him.

According to police records, Barrette was arrested Feb. 15 on an assault charge, which would mean he was in custody on that charge when the jail cell attack allegedly happened. Saskatoon police did not have a report of an attack against him at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre on that date, however.

Barrette’s lawyer, Nicholas Stooshinoff, said he didn’t know if criminal charges had been laid, as his client didn’t know his attacker’s full name. To the best of his knowledge, “Travis” had consumed some kind of homemade alcohol while in custody, Stooshinoff said.

“They make it in their cells, from fruit or things like that.”

The most terrifying part of the attack was that Barrette had nowhere to go, Stooshinoff said.

“The difficult thing for him is that you’re locked in a cell with a guy who lost his mind in some substance-induced psychosis,” he said. “It’s a terrifying experience. There’s no doubt that isn’t some- thing the jail guards wanted to happen, but it happened.”

A spokesperson for the justice ministry confirmed the government received the statement of claim, but declined to comment on a matter before the court.

Barrette is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, claiming the ministry and correctional officers were “grossly negligent.”

“At all times it was foreseeable that a violent inmate whose ability to act rationally was altered by an illegal substance could and would cause injury or possibly death to another inmate unless he was confined by himself in a segregated cell,” the claim says.