Inmate dies at Regina jail, probe looking at possible link to courthouse drug call

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice is investigating whether a death at the Regina Correctional Centre Wednesday morning and three inmates being taken to hospital from the Provincial Courthouse in Regina Tuesday are related.

Officials say the inmates at the courthouse were taken to hospital due to drug use. All three inmates were released around 11 p.m. CST and taken back to the Regina Correctional Centre.

An inmate who was not among the group of the three hospitalized was found unresponsive in his cell at Regina Correctional Centre Wednesday morning. He was pronounced dead at 9 a.m.

The 48-year-old man was being remanded at the facility on drug and weapon charges.

"There's no indication to suggest that [the courthouse incident] is related to what happened this morning at Regina Correctional Centre," said Drew Wilby, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Justice.

"Having said that, the respective police will definitely do their due diligence on that. Additionally, we've issued terms of reference today to our internal investigators to look at the two incidents together to see if there is any relationship between the two of them and see what conclusions they can draw."

Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray said police were dispatched to a call reporting three sick people at the courthouse. Police suspect a drug overdose was responsible for the illness in the three inmates.

Bray said if drugs are indeed found to be the cause, police will investigate how the drugs were brought into the courthouse.

Wilby said he believes the three hospitalized inmates are back to good health at the correctional centre, and none of them were directly involved with the inmate death on Wednesday morning.