HALIFAX -- There are no grounds to lay criminal charges in the death of a man who stopped breathing while in RCMP custody last year in Nova Scotia, the province's police watchdog said Tuesday.
However, the Serious Incident Response Team said in a statement that the two Mounties who placed the unconscious man in the cell may not have followed RCMP policy.
"While the actions of the jail guard were reasonable, by placing the man in the cell while unconscious the two RCMP officers may have breached RCMP policy by not seeking further medical attention," it said.
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Al LeBlanc said the force is reviewing the findings, and has no comment yet on whether a breach of policy occurred.
The team says the 40-year-old man was arrested for public intoxication and placed in a cell at the Liverpool detachment just before 1 a.m. on July 9 after being found lying in a road.
About 30 minutes later, the team said the civilian jail guard became concerned about the man's health and called for help from the two Mounties, who were out on a call.
The team said the man had stopped breathing and CPR was performed when the Mounties returned around 2 a.m. The man was taken to hospital by paramedics where he was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later.
The team said its investigation found the man had purposely taken an overdose of morphine and alcohol in order to commit suicide.
Even if the RCMP officers breached protocol, the team said it is not enough to warrant charges in this case.
"However, to be a criminal offence the officers' actions must have caused the man's death and must have been a mistake that was a marked departure from what reasonably should have been done in these circumstances," the statement said.
"The medical examiner concluded it would be speculative to say earlier medical attention would have saved the man's life. As well, the investigation found that any error the officers may have made was not significant enough in this case to be a marked departure from what was expected."
