Defence lawyer calls for public inquiry into death of HMP inmate Seamus Flynn

A defence lawyer in St. John's is calling for a public inquiry into the death of 35-year-old inmate Seamus Flynn and health-care services at Her Majesty's Penitentiary. 

Bob Buckingham says Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical examiner has the power to call for an inquiry — similar to a coroner's inquest — but never has. 

"I think we need to have a real strong investigation into this death," Buckingham said in a recent interview.

"There should be a number of inquiries, but certainly he should be acting on this one. He has the authority, he has the ability."

Flynn was taken by ambulance from the St. John's prison on the evening of Dec. 1 and was pronounced dead early the next day. 

His mother, Cindy Flynn, says preliminary information she received from Dr. Nash Denic, the chief medical examiner, indicates Flynn died after contracting viral influenza that morphed into a bacterial infection. He also had severe pneumonia and became septic.

Buckingham pointed the finger at prison conditions.

"The present circumstances are just some of the worst I've seen in the last 32 years," Buckingham said.

He said he has called for the chief medical examiner to recommend an inquiry into deaths at the penitentiary before. His client Jonathan Henoche died in custody in November 2019 while awaiting trial for first-degree murder.

Two years later, a judge dismissed charges against the nine correctional officers accused of causing the death of an inmate under their care.

Four inmates died by suicide at HMP and the Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women between 2017 and 2018. While there was no public inquiry, the province commissioned a review by retired police officer Marlene Jesso.

That independent report painted a bleak picture of facilities rife with overcrowding and inadequate mental health and addictions support. 

This time, Buckingham said, should be different. He said Flynn's death puts a spotlight on access to medical and dental care, something he said inmates have complained about for years. 

Provincial health authorities took over control of health care within correctional facilities, following Jesso's report. The Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services website says it provides nursing assessments and interventions, medication management and delivery, diagnostic services, health promotion and prevention, opioid dependence therapy, and counselling, psychological and psychiatric services.