A coroner’s inquest has been scheduled during November 2023 for the death of a mentally ill man who died in an Ontario jail cell in December 2016.
On Wednesday, Dr. Paul Dungey, regional supervising coroner for East Region, announced the date for the inquest into the death of Soleiman Faqiri at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont.
Investigations revealed the 30-year-old man had been beaten, pepper sprayed and restrained following altercations with correctional staff. Faqiri had been at the jail for 11 days prior to his death on Dec. 15, 2016.
Family of Faqiri have argued he should have not been in the jail as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 19 years old.
In 2021, a report by Dr. Michael Pollanen, Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist, determined Faqiri’s death “occurred during struggle and restraint by correctional officers.”
In August 2022, following an investigation, Ontario Provincial Police said there would be no criminal charges laid against six correctional officers involved in the incident. It followed the initial decision by the Kawartha Lakes Police Service in Lindsay that there were no grounds for criminal charges after their investigation.
Initially the coroner’s officer ruled Faqiri’s death as “unascertainable” but Pollanen’s conclusions led to an inquest being ordered to “examine the circumstances surrounding Mr. Faqiri’s death.”
The inquest, scheduled to begin on Nov. 20 at the Coroner’s Courts in Toronto, is expected to last 15 days and hear from 20 witnesses. Dr. David Cameron will be the presiding officer. Prabhu Rajan and Julian Roy will be the inquest counsel.
A jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing further deaths.