Grieving family sues province, guards
Mentally ill man who died in jail was beaten, abused, relatives allege
The family of a mentally ill man who died at an Ontario jail has launched a lawsuit against the province and guards at the facility, alleging corrections officers used excessive force that ultimately killed the 30-year-old.
Soleiman Faqiri’s relatives announced their suit Wednesday, claiming a key eye witness had come forward and provided information that allegedly indicates jail guards severely beat the man and were responsible for his death in December 2016.
“Soleiman’s ultimate death was directly related to the negligent actions of the defendants who used excessive and inappropriate force against him,” the statement of claim alleged.
Faqiri’s family on Wednesday filed a statement of claim seeking $14.3 million in damages, alleging cruel and unusual punishment, battery, negligence, and abuse of public office. The suit names the province, the jail’s superintendent and a group of jail guards as defendants.
The Ministry of Correctional Services and Community Safe- ty did not immediately respond to request for comment. A staff member at the Central East Correctional Centre referred questions about the lawsuit to the government.
Faqiri, who had schizophrenia, died in after guards at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., peppersprayed and beat him after he refused to get out of the shower, according to a 2017 internal report by the Kawartha Lakes Police Service.
The report, which was obtained by the Star in February 2018, described how officers forced handcuffs and leg shackles on Faqiri as they returned him to a segregation cell.
A2017 coroner’s report, which ruled his cause of death to be “unascertained,” found he suffered more than 50 injuries, including a bruised laceration on his forehead, and multiple bruises and abrasions on his face, torso and limbs.
Faqiri’s brother, Yusuf, said the family decided to sue after an initial police investigation resulted in no charges.
“We want to make sure that Soleiman’s death is not in vain,” he said, adding he hoped the legal action would expose the true circumstances of his brother’s death. “I don’t want what happened to my late brother to happen to another family.”
According to the statement of claim, Soleiman Faqiri was arrested on Dec. 4, 2016 after an altercation with a neighbour in Ajax, Ont., during a schizophrenic episode.
He was jailed in the Central East facility and held in segregation for days, a situation that led to a deterioration in his mental health, the statement of claim said.
On Dec. 12, a justice of the peace ordered Faqiri be transferred to a mental health facility. Three days later, a group of approximately six correctional officers took him to a new cell when an altercation occurred, the statement of claim alleged.
The claim alleges Faqiri was punched, kicked and stomped on while he was handcuffed and defenceless. It further alleges he was pepper-sprayed twice and had a so-called “spit hood” placed over his head, so his airways could not be cleared.
The suit alleges the occupant of a nearby cell witnessed the altercation and saw a guard place his knee on the back of Faqir’s neck during the incident. At some point, Faqiri stopped breathing and lost consciousness, the statement of claim said. He was pronounced dead in the cell, the document said.
The Ontario Provincial Police recently reopened the investigation into Faqiri’s death.