Ryan Kereluk's family on the steps of the courthouse at the conclusion of the inquest. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Inquest Wraps Up

Inquest wraps up, family now waits for action

Dec 6, 2019 | 6:22 PM

A jury overseeing the inquest into the death last year of Ryan Kereluk has come up with eight recommendations to help prevent similar incidents from happening.

The 34-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell at the Prince Albert Police Service on May 18, 2018 and was later pronounced deceased in hospital.The cause of death was determined by the Coroner to be methamphetamine toxicity, and the jury therefore ruled it was “accidental.”

The jury’s recommendations to the police service include a comprehensive review of all policies related to the monitoring of prisoners; and also to ensure, in the event of a drug related arrest, a comprehensive search of the prisoner is done prior to them being locked up. Outside the courthouse Vermette told paNOW she thought all the recommendations were good.

“I really tried to get this dedicated in memory of my son and you know if I’ve helped one person, that’s all I want,” she said, adding she would like to be informed when the recommendations are enforced.

“I’ve had so many people tell me why are you doing this, let Ryan rest, leave it alone but I couldn’t, that was my son,” she explained.

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Also included with the recommendations was improved training for guards to be able to better assess prisoners who may be intoxicated from drugs or alcohol. There was also a recommendation to enhance audio surveillance in all existing detention areas and to have audio recording capabilities added to detention areas that currently don’t have such capabilities.

Ryan Kereluk. (Submitted photo)

At the conclusion of Friday’s hearing, Vermette herself was given the opportunity to speak and she fought back tears as she expressed her gratitude to the jurors.

She explained to them her son, who had a love for fast living, and was also a talented singer never chose to be a drug user and had struggled with meth since incurring a neck injury in 2008. She further recounted how on countless times she had tried to help her son get better.

“I use to tell him I wish you’d become incarcerated so you can have some help, because that’s what you need,” she said. “And the sad thing is it wasn’t.”

Over the course of the week there have been 19 witnesses, as well as video footage of Kereluk’s initial arrest on May 16 and of his time spent in custody. Vermette who has sat through all the proceedings, broke down in tears when she described seeing her son’s final moments.

“When I saw him curl up on that cement bed, just so many memories came back of me tucking him into bed,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Prince Albert Police Service thanked everyone involved with the inquest, and said the police service will look at each recommendation individually to determine the next steps forward in this matter.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell