MOTHER LOOKS FOR GOOD TO COME FROM SON'S DEATH

Two years after 20-year-old Kyle Wigham died in custody at the Fraser
Regional Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge, the B.C. coroner decided
his death doesn't warrant an inquest.

But Wigham's mother Pat isn't bitter.

The Chilliwack mom doesn't hold a grudge against the coroner or
corrections.

But she is determined to see changes made.

"I don't believe children belong in prison," she said, in a Wednesday
interview.

Wigham wants to see young first-offenders like Kyle sent to
restorative justice where "they have a chance to redeem themselves"
not to prison where "naive" kids are fed into the hands of street-wise
criminals.

"They taught Kyle a new drug as far as I'm concerned," Wigham
said.

Coroner Vincent Stancato found her son died from a heroin overdose and
classified his March 14, 2008 death as "accidental," although he noted
that a centre staff member did not follow the standard operating
procedure of checking inmates every 30-60 minutes.

"Inspections were conducted sporadically throughout the night,"
Stancato said in the report. Another staff visually checked the cell
three times before determining that Wigham was unresponsive, "despite
there being a large foam cone" around his mouth.

The B.C. Coroner's Office did not return a Progress telephone call to
answer why the coroner decided not to hold an inquest.

A B.C. Corrections spokesperson would not say whether the staff
members mentioned in the coroner's report were reprimanded or
disciplined.

"We never comment on personnel matters," Marnie Mayhew
said.

Wigham was sentenced to nine months in jail for robbing a Chilliwack
7-Eleven store, despite the recommendations of a drug counsellor.

It was Wigham's mother who basically turned him over to the judicial
system, hoping that he would get help for his cocaine addiction.

But as predicted by the drug counsellor, Wigham instead found prison
an easy place to score drugs and he was introduced to heroin, which
proved to be fatal when combined with marijuana.

"Somebody knew what the risks were," Wigham said, but took advantage
of her son's naivete and sold him the heroin.

She said blocking the flow of drugs into prisons is one step
politicians could take by enacting laws to add jail time to the users
and dealers discovered in custody.

Wigham believes drugs are being smuggled into prisons by staff, not by
visitors who are electronically screened and searched.

Ironically, Wigham's last chance to visit her son was denied because
she tested positive for heroin.

"I was okay one minute, the next I was told I tested positive," she
said. "It was my last chance."