Tuberculosis outbreak this summer at Montreal Detention Facility (Bordeaux prison) prompts sentence reductions for criminals, learned The Press.
Published at 5:00 a.m.
What he must know
- The Montreal Detention Facility, also called Bordeaux Prison, experienced an outbreak of tuberculosis over the summer.
- According to lawyers representing the detainees, the measures taken to counter these infections had consequences on the lives of the defendants.
- These conditions allowed some of them to obtain sentence reductions. These sentence reductions would, however, be granted on a “case by case” basis.
“The detainees are the responsibility of the State. When we pile them up like in a dog pound, there are sure to be consequences,” laments criminal lawyer Gary Martin, one of whose clients who was infected had to be hospitalized at the Sacré-Cœur hospital. .
Tuberculosis, a notifiable disease, is a very rare infection in the general population in Canada. In 2021, there were fewer than 5 active cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to official data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. Prisons are, however, places conducive to its spread, particularly because of the promiscuity of inmates. The World Health Organization says its prevalence is 5 to 50 times higher in prison settings.
The Directorate of Public Health (DSP) of Montreal confirms that four cases of active tuberculosis have been reported at Bordeaux prison since May. Two of these cases were contagious and the other two were not, specifies the DSP.
The situation is under control and a marked increase in active tuberculosis cases in the prison environment is not expected.
Marianne Paquette, spokesperson for the Montreal Public Health Department
M’s cliente Martin, who pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges, should nevertheless benefit from a reduced sentence because of his infection while incarcerated while awaiting trial, says the criminal lawyer. “It is a weighting factor that we asked the judge, taking into account this condition of detention,” indicates M.e Martin.
“The judge was not keen on the idea of bringing him into the courtroom. He demanded that he and the guards wear masks, reports Me Martin. Everyone was uncomfortable. Tuberculosis is not hay fever! »
Calculation to review
Last week, during the guilty plea of Pascal Tribout, who admitted to trying to make firearms with a 3D printer, defense and Crown prosecutors told Judge Denys Noël that an “epidemic of tuberculosis” during his preventive detention in Bordeaux prison pushed them to review the calculation of their joint sentence recommendation.
Mr. Tribout reported to his lawyer, Ms.e Marie-Ève Duplessis, having been placed in solitary confinement (lockdown) 24 hours a day for a week, possibly due to this tuberculosis outbreak. He also claims to have encountered two infected people in the prison infirmary in September.
There is a risk that he will catch it, there is a risk of it spreading. Already his freedom is restricted, there is a risk for his health too. I understand that he has committed crimes, but he doesn’t deserve to get sick any more than anyone else. He has the right to have minimally humane conditions.
Me Marie-Ève Duplessis, lawyer for detainee Pascal Tribout
Another defense lawyer, who asked that her name be withheld to protect her client’s right to confidentiality, claims to have obtained a sentence reduction of 14 months, out of a total sentence of 78 months, after that she proved that her client was infected during his detention. “We had the medical certificate proving it,” says the lawyer.
However, sentence reductions are not easily granted by judges, assures this lawyer. Defense lawyers must demonstrate that their client suffered “particularly difficult” conditions because of the outbreak. The Crown, for its part, demands proof. “This is a case-by-case analysis,” specifies the spokesperson for the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, Annabelle Sheppard.
Campaign screening
After the discovery of the first case in May, the DSP says that a few hundred inmates and staff members of the Montreal prison were targeted for screening. The exercise revealed the existence of a few cases of latent tuberculosis, a non-contagious and asymptomatic form of the disease, which does not require confinement of the affected person.
These latent infections, which can be treated with a preventive medication, did not necessarily take place in prison, the DSP also specifies. “For people born in countries endemic for tuberculosis, it is likely that the infection was acquired abroad,” says spokesperson Marianne Paquette.
Only people with the active form of the disease can transmit it, by breathing, talking or coughing. “You generally have to spend more than 100 or 120 hours in the same place as the infected person,” specifies the DSP.
