Montreal jail manager suspended after death of illegally-detained 21-year-old man

MONTREAL – A manager has been suspended from his duties at the Montreal jail where a 21-year-old man suffered fatal injuries during an intervention by guards last week.

Quebec’s Public Security Department says the Dec. 29 suspension is the second involving a Montreal Detention Centre employee in connection with the death of Nicous D’Andre Spring.

The Public Security Department has admitted that D’Andre Spring was being detained illegally at the facility, also known as the Bordeaux jail, and should have been released the day before his death.

Marie Manikis, a law professor at McGill University, says the event raises wider questions about the lack of transparency at provincial jails, which she says are known for their dangerous conditions.

D’Andre Spring had pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting a peace officer and violating release conditions and was awaiting trial on several earlier charges, including robbery, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm

At a vigil on Friday evening, friends remembered him as a gentle, soft-spoken man who dreamed of a career as a rapper.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2022.