BY KEITH LACEY
A coroner?s inquest into the death of an inmate from an apparent overdose last year at Sudbury District Jail is focusing on how people doing time get drugs.
The inquest into the death of Robert Bisschops, 30, heard testimony this week that he smuggled drugs into the jail in shoes given to him by a friend during a court appearance.
Bisschops was pronounced dead July 15, 2004 after his cellmate saw him snort and ingest six morphine pills over several hours.
Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Slater asked the media not to report the cellmate?s name because he could suffer reprisals for testifying.
The cellmate said Bisshops made a brief court appearance July 14 and returned to his cell with a large cache of drugs?about 100 morphine pills and 10 grams of marijuana?inside a pair of shoes.
Bisschops had pleaded guilty to being involved in a brutal home invasion in February 2004 and was facing sentencing.
Bisschops appeared remorseful for his actions, said the cellmate.
?He felt regret for what he did...and said after doing his time he was going to change his life around.?
Most contraband is hidden inside mattresses, but many prisoners store drugs inside rubber gloves or condoms and place them inside their body and this is what Bisschops did, he said.
The inquest started Monday, the same day the head of the union representing correctional officers lashed out at Corrections Canada management.
He called management?s ?zero tolerance policy? a joke and said Canadian jails are full of drugs.
Sylvain Martel told a federal police association corrections officers are very limited in trying to stop the problem as they are restricted in conducting internal searches.
After taking a second batch of pills, Bisschops was very stoned and had difficulty talking and standing up, said the cellmate. ?He was really messed
up...he had to hold onto the cell doors so he wouldn?t fall asleep standing up,? he said.
Bisschops stumbled to his bunk and fell asleep immediately and minutes later he heard ?gargling sounds,? but he figured Bisschops was in a deep sleep. Eventually, he moved Bisschops onto his side to stop the noise, he said.
Minutes later, he noticed a white foam coming from Bisschops? mouth and he tried to wake him, but he couldn?t and decided to wipe his mouth, he
said.
He tried to wake Bisschops several times.
?I tried again...and then I heard one last breath coming out of his system and that was it,? he said.
He cried out for help from jail guards. Jail guards rushed to the scene and soon jail nurses and medical staff were on the scene.
Inside jail, there are certain rules among prisoners and you don?t tell anyone about drugs being brought in or consumed and you don?t call jail guards
to the cell unless your cellmate asks you to, he said.
Greater Sudbury Police Const. Dave Linington, an identification officer, testified several pages from a Bible were removed during a search of Bisschops? cell and he believes they were used to roll a joint.
He also found condoms filled with prescription pills and marijuana.
The inquest is expected to continue all week. A four-man, one-woman jury is expected to make several recommendations.
