JURY CALLS FOR CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL DRUGS IN JAILS

Panel: Inquest rules inmate died of lethal cocktail of drugs

MONCTON - A coroner's inquest has ruled that a lethal cocktail of
prescription and illegal drugs caused the death of an inmate on remand
in a Moncton detention centre.

The jury at the three-day inquest labelled the death of Derrick
Phillip Urwin as accidental in its findings, but recommended that
further action be taken to eliminate the flow of illegal drugs into
the province's correctional facilities.

"We recommend that as contraband will always be a problem, that
correctional staff persevere and continue to develop new ways to
detect contraband," said Mark Powers, the juror who delivered the
five-person panel's findings on Wednesday.

Urwin, of River Glade, located west of Moncton, was on remand at the
time of his death.

He was accused of playing a role in the killing of a man whose remains
were found in a wooded area outside Salisbury in fall 2006.

A forensic toxicologist testified this week that two prescribed
medications - an anti-depressant and a painkiller - as well as
cocaine, Valium, OxyContin and marijuana were found in Urwin's system
after his death.

The source of the illegal drugs remained undetermined, although
testimony by Codiac RCMP Const. David Morrissey on Wednesday uncovered
that three inmates alleged Urwin was provided illegal contraband, both
illegal drugs and tobacco, by a corrections officer.

Morrissey, who was the investigating officer into Urwin's death, said
there was no evidence found to prove the allegations true. A
corrections official denied the allegation.

The five-person jury delivered six recommendations in total, taking
aim at the events which led to why the 36-year-old was found
unresponsive in his cell three years ago.

The jury had learned that Urwin was taking prescribed medication that
he refused to take less than 12 hours before his death.

Shortly after refusing his medication on Sept. 5, 2007, Urwin then
communicated that he wasn't feeling well and that his medicine was too
strong.

Later that evening, the delivery of another other round of medication
was not given to Urwin because he was found asleep, snoring loudly.

The jury recommended in its findings that inmates be given the
opportunity to refuse medication at every scheduled delivery time. It
also recommended that a process and procedure be created for reporting
unusual signs and symptoms by inmates.

Sheldon Currie, an institutional operations manager with correctional
services and the inquest's final witness, said Wednesday that the
institution's staff responded professionally and systematically to
Urwin, but that in hindsight his symptoms and complaints could have
been pieced together for a quicker response.

"If each officer had all of the information, the end likely wouldn't
have been different, but we may have been able to put him on alert
earlier," Currie said.

Currie said an electronic database in now in place where all
information on each inmate is available to correctional officers.

The jury recommended that communication be improved between all
correctional staff members. It also called for Moncton Detention
Centre emergency medical response procedures and the use of
deliberators to be reviewed.

A final recommendation asked for coroner's inquest in held at a more
timely fashion in proximity to the person in question's death.

While recommendations are not binding by law, they are filed with the
office of the chief coroner, sent to the involved parties and included
in an annual report by the chief coroner which is tabled in the
legislature annually.