New beds coming to Burnside Jail
Posted Sep 30, 2010 06:09:22 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
More than 100 new beds are coming to the crowded Burnside jail.
Justice Minister Ross Landry says the new bunks should help alleviate overcrowding and should be in place by March.
They’ll replace mattresses currently being used to accommodate a second prisoner in some cells.
The issue of double-bunking came up during the sentencing hearing for Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh earlier this week.
Defence lawyer Brian Casey argued the convicted sex offender should get special consideration because he’d already suffered under poor conditions at the jail.
Liberal justice critic Michel Samson tells the Herald overcrowding should never have gotten so bad that lawyers are using it as a reason to argue for leniency during sentencing.
