Better care sought for mentally ill inmates

Monday, March 24, 2014 SPORK! 0 Comments

In less than 72 hours, Zlatko Sego went from enjoying birthday cake in his family home to being found dead in a Toronto jail.

Sego, 39, who lived with schizophrenia, was found hanging by bed sheets in his cell at the Toronto (Don) Jail on April 19, 2012.

His suicide highlights what experts call the “medieval” system of sending people with mental illness to jail. Advocates worry those with severe mental illness continue to be stuck behind bars instead of in hospital for treatment.

“It’s like putting you in jail for having cancer. You’d say, ‘Well, what did I do? I was born this way,’ ” said criminal defence lawyer Frank Addario, who is currently fighting a case centred on the issue at the Supreme Court of Canada. “They seem the least desirable constituency that exists.”

This summer, a coroner’s inquest will try to determine how it got this way — and why the system let Sego down.

Read the full article at The Star