Failure behind bars
Shake-up needed following Matthew Hines’ death at Dorchester
Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger’s report into the May 26, 2015, Dorchester Penitentiary death of Matthew Ryan Hines of Sydney, Nova Scotia shows there is something very rotten in the Correctional Service of Canada.
And it’s not just the unwarranted use of pepper spray.
Yes, the repeated use of close-range pepper spray against a handcuffed prisoner who was already under control, in the custody of more than a dozen officers and experiencing breathing distress, is one of the reasons Mr. Zinger bluntly concludes that “CSC ultimately failed in its duty to protect and preserve Matthew’s life.” A preliminary report by the New Brunswick chief coroner has found the cause of Mr. Hines’ death “appears to be acute asphyxia due to extensive pulmonary edema following the administration of pepper spray.”
Mr. Zinger notes a final coroner’s determination hasn’t been made.
But he says “multiple uses of unnecessary and inappropriate force” contributed to the “ensuing medical emergency” and to the “preventable” death of Mr. Hines.
Mr. Zinger also finds a litany of CSC failures and misconduct. His says officers first used “disproportionate and unnecessary” body punches and kicks, so-called “distraction techniques”, to restrain and handcuff Mr. Hines after he demonstrated agitated and confused behaviour during a night-time lockup.
No one considered his past treatment for psychotic episodes. He was pepper-sprayed while handcuffed on the floor and bleeding from his face and sprayed repeatedly again while being dragged to a shower.
As the situation became a health crisis, no one took charge and focused on life-saving. Neither security staff nor a duty nurse conducted vital assessments or life-saving treatment when Mr. Hines began experiencing seizures, spitting blood and having difficulty breathing — contrary to the nurse’s report. He was unresponsive when paramedics arrived and died 70 minutes after the initial use of force.
Mr. Hines’ family were falsely told he died of a seizure that could not have been prevented. CSC compromised a potential crime scene by cleaning up bloodstains before RCMP arrived.
A “self-serving” self-investigation failed to hold anyone significantly to account or to seriously address how it could have been prevented. Mr. Zinger says this is typical of CSC’s failure to correct repeated mistakes or act on past recommendations of his office and of inquests.
CSC has apologized to the Hines family and accepted Mr. Zinger’s recommendations. That’s not enough.
An agency which provided false information on the death of a person in its care, a death which is the subject of a police investigation, needs a serious shake-up.