Coroner orders inquiry into death of 21-year-man at Montreal jail

By The Canadian Press on January 17, 2023.

MONTREAL – Quebec’s head coroner has ordered an inquest into the jail death of a Black man in Montreal following an altercation with correctional staff just before Christmas.

Pascale Descary announced today that public hearings will be held to examine the death of Nicous D’Andre Spring, an inmate at Montreal’s Bordeaux jail.

Spring, 21, was unlawfully detained on Dec. 24 when guards fitted his head with a spit hood and pepper-sprayed him twice. He died later in hospital.

A judge had ordered Spring released from the detention centre the day before, but he and two other inmates were still in custody a day later.

A prominent anti-racism lobby group called earlier this month for an inquiry into Spring’s death and asked that any video of the incident inside the jail be shared with the man’s family.

No date was given for the start of the inquiry, which will be led by coroner Julie-Kim Godin.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.

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