Province investigates story leaked from jail

The Ontario government has launched an investigation into a leak from a Toronto jail related to a man accused of killing 10 people and injuring 16 others in a van attack earlier this week.

The investigation was triggered by a Toronto Sun article about accused mass killer Alek Minassian that is accompanied by a photograph of an inmate the newspaper claims is that of the 25-year-old inside the Toronto South Detention Centre.

The report cites anonymous sources who either spoke to or heard Minassian allegedly say inside the detention centre that he had no regrets for the victims and that he wished he had been shot by the Toronto police officer who arrested him without incident.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services says publicly sharing photos or information about an inmate is unacceptable conduct.

Daniel Brown, a criminal defence lawyer, said the leak could play a role at a trial.

“This type of information could significantly prejudice an accused person’s fair trial rights and it may undermine his evidence at trial,” Brown said. However, a media expert pointed out that report had news value.

“I can understand why there is a compelling journalistic reason to tell this story because we’re in the sense-making stage of this” said Lisa Taylor, a journalism professor at Ryerson University.