A mother is making a plea to keep her son out of isolation at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
Mrs. Dale Hamm is the mother of Mathew Hamm – an inmate at the Saskatchewan penitentiary.
In an interview from Alberta, she said her son is in the pen because he escaped from a drug treatment centre and robbed a gas station.
She explained Mathew suffers from both bi-polar disorder and attention deficit disorder.
According to Hamm, Mathew waited for five months at the pen to get the lithium he needs for his conditions, and has repeatedly asked for psychiatric help.
After an altercation with another inmate she says he was placed in segregation.
Hamm wants her son to be safe from other inmates who want to hurt her son, but she also worries her son is growing more depressed:
“And I’m not willing to lose my son’s life. Then again, putting him in the hole is probably the worse place to put him because he may take his life.”
She wants Mathew to be placed in a regional psychiatric centre or somewhere else where he can get proper care.
In an email to MBC news the Correctional Service of Canada says it has systems in place to address any grievances or complaints brought forward by offenders and that includes any concerns regarding inmate safety.
However it wouldn’t comment on individual cases citing privacy concerns.