Inmate who was released early from Burnside jail found

HALIFAX – A man who was mistakenly released from the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth 12 hours early is back in custody.

Robert Eisnor, who was released at 6 a.m. Monday instead of 6 p.m., turned himself in to police around 10 a.m. The Nova Scotia Department of Justice confirmed the news in an update released at 10:08 a.m.

Officials said “a human error, a clerical error” is to blame because staff misread the release time.

Eisnor was scheduled to complete his intermittent sentence later this month on Dec. 29. He was serving ongoing weekend sentences, arriving at the Burnside jail each Saturday morning and leaving every Monday evening. Officials confirm he was sentenced for a breach of recognizance, resulting from a failure to attend a court appearance.

The total length of the sentence was not immediately available to media officials with the Department of Justice.

Halifax Regional Police were notified as soon as the error was recognized.

Another inadvertent release occurred last month at the jail when 22-year-old Eliahs Knudsen Kent was accidentally set free on Nov. 7. He had a history of violence and was eventually tracked down in Spryfield after a two-day manhunt.

It was the sixth inadvertent release from the facility in the past seven years.

After Kent’s capture, officials with the Department of Justice promised measures would be introduced to prevent any more inadvertent releases.

Asked if the sort of mistake that led to Eisnor’s release today could happen again, Bill Smith, executive director of Correctional Services said: “It’s human error. Can I say human error will never happen again? No.”