A coroner’s inquest into the death of a mentally ill man at an Ontario jail is watching a video of an inmate who says he witnessed the man’s violent struggle with correctional officers.
Thibeault was being held at the Central East Correctional Centre in the cell across from Faqiri’s and told police he saw correctional officers “beating the (expletive) out of him” on Dec. 15, 2016.
He says officers pepper sprayed Faqiri to get him into the cell, and as soon as they were inside, they started “laying into him as hard as they could.”
The inquest has heard Faqiri was arrested in early December 2016 on assault allegations related to an incident that took place when he was in a mental health crisis, and his condition deteriorated quickly while in the Lindsay, Ont., jail.
He died in his cell the afternoon of Dec. 15, 2016 after a violent struggle that began as he was being escorted from the shower to his cell.