Wait list led to suicidal man being placed in jail
Being suicidal is no shortcut to getting a bed at The Royal, manager tells inquest
Killaloe resident Cleve Casimir Geddes was suicidal when he was admitted to the Ottawa jail to wait for a court-ordered psychiatric assessment, an inquest into his death was told Tuesday.
But being suicidal wasn’t by itself a reason to move him up on the waiting list for assessment, said Joan Garrow, a manager at The Royal’s forensic program.
The first priority in managing the waiting list is public safety, said Garrow.
Geddes, who had schizophrenia, was secure at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, said Garrow. There were also psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers on staff at the jail, she said.
Geddes spent eight days at the jail in February 2017 before he hanged himself in his cell using bed sheets.
The nine-day inquest under Coroner Dr. Michael Wilson is hearing evidence from officials at The Royal, the jail, mental health services, the court, Ontario Provincial Police, the provincial ministry responsible for corrections, and the Geddes family.
The testimony so far has shed light on some of the difficulties faced by mentally ill people in the justice system, from hospital bed shortages to jails that don’t have proper facilities for suicidal inmates.
Geddes could be aggressive, yelling, swearing and going on “rants,” especially when he was off his medication, the inquest heard.
A nurse who was his mental-health worker in 2015-16 said Geddes was kind, smart and pleasant when on his medication. However, he didn’t like the side-effects and when Geddes stopped taking his medication in the fall of 2016 he became increasingly agitated and unkempt, said Judy Hartwig.
She said she never knew him to be violent, though.
He was charged with causing a disturbance and uttering threats after a confrontation with a patron of the Pembroke Library who complained that Geddes wanted to watch porn on a computer.
Geddes was arrested in Killaloe on Jan. 30, 2017, for failing to appear in court on the library-related charges. He ended up being arrested for assaulting and threatening police.
A judge in Pembroke ordered Geddes held in custody for an assessment at The Royal. The purpose of the assessment was not to treat his illness but to provide a recommendation to the court on whether Geddes was criminally responsible in light of his mental illness, explained Garrow.
But there were no forensic beds available at The Royal, so Geddes was sent to the jail to wait.
A lawyer representing a support group for mothers with family members who have been arrested or are in prison questioned how Geddes, a man with no history of violence, ended up housed in jail.
Geddes was on suicide watch at the jail, then taken off in favour of “enhanced supervision” shortly before he took his life.
During suicide watch, inmates are either observed continually or every 10 minutes, said Linda Ogilvie, a manager for the provincial ministry responsible for corrections.
The open ranges in most jails are not designed to allow for constant monitoring of people at risk of suicide, she said, and most jails use segregation for suicidal inmates.
The ministry’s suicide-prevention policy says suicidal inmates should be housed alone, preferably in a special-needs unit or a safe cell, and segregation should be used “only as a last resort,” the inquest heard.