Apiqhuidjutingit Nunavunmi
YOUTH JUSTICE COURT OF NUNAVUT
Tribunal de la jeunesse de Nunavut
Citation:
Date:
Docket:
Registry:
20141224
07-12Y-92; 07-12I-94; 08-14Y-66; 08-14-281
Iqaluit
Crown:
Accused:
S.P.
________________________________________________________________________
Before:
Counsel (Crown):
Counsel (Accused):
A. Dion
S. Charlesworth
Location Heard:
Date Heard:
Matters:
Iqaluit, Nunavut
December 4 & 10, 2014
Application to transfer offender to an adult facility pursuant
to Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c 1, s 30(4)
DISCLAIMER PAGE
Anonymized Judgment:
I. BACKGROUND
[1]
II. APPLICATIONS
[2]
[3]
[4]
The first issue dealt with was the nature of the hearing and the
procedure that would be followed. Counsel both submitted that the
role of the Crown was to put the record of the youth before the Court,
not to advocate a position (see: R v SDF, 2007 ABPC 103, 415 AR
367 [S.D.F.]).
[6]
[7]
(4) When a young person is detained under subsection (1), the youth
justice court may, on application of the provincial director made at any
time after the young person attains the age of eighteen years, after
giving the young person an opportunity to be heard, authorize the
provincial director to direct, despite subsection (3), that the young
person be temporarily detained in a provincial correctional facility for
adults, if the court considers it to be in the best interests of the young
person or in the public interest.
[8]
[9]
IV. ANALYSIS
[12] I was provided with a large volume of material from the Youth Centre
regarding SP, including progress reports, behavioural reports, and a
psychiatric report.
[13] SP's history with the court is as follows:
Charge Date
Charges
Sentence
March 8, 2011
pending
Dec. 1, 2012
June 5, 2014
pending
1 day jail, 12
months
probation
[14] A review of the materials from the Youth Centre portrays a deeply
troubled and angry young man. The records are replete with incidents
of disrespect, aggression, bullying, and threatening. They are also
replete with incidents of self-harm and self-loathing. Since SP's
remand in December of 2012, there have been over 75 incidents of
one type or another.
[15] The records also indicate that SP has not made any progress during
his time at the Youth Centre. Behavioural modification programs have
been unsuccessful. Programing has been offered, but refused. In fact,
not only has SP refused programming, he has been so disruptive in
the course of doing so that programs and classes for other residents
have had to be shut down on occasion.
[16] In the spring of 2014, the Youth Centre found itself in the difficult
situation of housing both SP and a young person who was to be a
witness for the prosecution in the murder charge against SP. In May
of 2014, SP plead guilty to an assault on that young person and was
sentenced to one day in jail and 12 months probation.
[17] A term of the probation order was that he have no contact with the
victim of the assault. It is alleged that within weeks of being placed on
that probation order he breached it by yelling at the victim of the
assault F____you, you're afraid of me, I'm going to get you. He was
charged with breaching the probation order and that charge is
pending before the courts. The victim of the assault is no longer at the
Youth Centre.
[18] In July of 2014, SP came before the Court on an application by the
Youth Centre to have him detained at an adult facility. It was
submitted that this would allow the Youth Centre to ensure that the
non-contact term of the probation order was complied with and to
allow SP greater privileges. At that time, SP was being kept in 23 hour
lock up, both to ensure there was no contact with the victim of the
assault and also because of general behavioural issues.
[19] An agreement was worked out between the Youth Centre and BCC
whereby SP would spend his days, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., at BCC and
his nights at the Youth Centre. Counsel agreed to the arrangement
and the Remand Warrant was amended to facilitate the arrangement.
It was understood that SP's time at BCC would be spent in a mental
health unit called the Katak Unit. According to the psychologist at
BCC, as SP became more comfortable at BCC his behaviour
escalated and he began to bully other, vulnerable, inmates in the
Katak Unit. This resulted in SP being placed in behavioural
segregation, some of which had to be served at the Youth Centre due
to space issues at BCC.
[20] Other residents in the Youth Centre have reported being pressured by
SP to smuggle contraband into the facility, purportedly because SP
wanted to take the contraband with him to BCC.
[21] Counsel for SP argues that since the victim of the May 20, 2014
assault is no longer at the Youth Centre there is no longer any need
to keep SP out of the Youth Centre. Counsel highlighted the lower
staff to inmate ratio at the Youth Centre as opposed to BCC and
submitted that this allows for more attention to be paid to the
particular needs and issues of SP.
[22] On behalf of the Youth Centre, it is submitted that behavioural issues
with SP were present both before and after the time the victim of the
assault was at the facility. The facility has some very young residents
(14-15 years old) and female residents who are particularly
vulnerable. It is submitted that because the building itself is quite
small, even when SP is in segregation he can be heard and this is
often upsetting for the other residents. SP is moved only in the
presence of two staff members. Because the staff numbers are low,
this requires programing for other residents to be shut down if SP
must be moved. The focus of the Youth Centre is on programing. It
houses remand, open, and closed custody offenders and does not
have the capacity to separate them according to security needs.
Also, the staff are not trained to deal with violent residents in the
same way that staff at BCC are.
[23] While at the Youth Centre, SP is spending most of his time in
segregation. It is acknowledged that over the long term this is sure to
negatively impact on his mental health. Indeed, this was the concern
that led to the arrangement currently in place whereby he would be
housed at BCC during the day.
[29] Concerns were expressed for the other inmates of the Katak Unit, as
they tend to be vulnerable. However, based on the evidence before
me it seems that BCC has greater options available for the movement
and placement of inmates than does the Youth Centre.
[30] I am satisfied that the public interest, that being the safety and
rehabilitation of the greater population of residents at the Youth
Facility, supports the application by the Territorial Director to have SP
transferred to an adult facility. I am also satisfied that such a transfer
will have either no impact or a positive impact on the interests of SP.
V. CONCLUSION
[31] The application brought on behalf of SP to have him detained full time
at the Youth Centre is dismissed.
[32] The application by the Territorial Director to have SP transferred to an
adult facility is granted.
[33] Given the time of year I grant the Territorial Director discretion to
implement such a transfer at a time he or his delegate deems
appropriate.
___________________
Justice S. Cooper
Nunavut Court of Justice