Lawsuit for Okanagan Correctional Centre slip and fall

An inmate at Okanagan Correctional Centre has filed a civil suit claiming he fell and injured himself after encountering slippery floors in the prison.

In a notice of claim filed on Jan. 20, inmate Justin William Daniels says he slipped and fell on a freshly mopped floor on Bravo South, near the kitchen area at the correctional centre, on May 11, 2019. Daniels is suing the B.C. Ministry of Justice for $3,500 for injury and $3,500 for ongoing pain and suffering, for a total of $7,000.

He claims he injured his right knee and lower back in the incident and as a result of over-compensating for the injured body parts, he more recently acquired pain in his right knee.

Daniels claim further states there were no wet floor hazard signs and he was unaware of the hazard.

He says in the suit his knee injury “has gone untreated properly to this date.”

Daniels says he undertook a complaint process at the correctional centre to show fault belonged with the institution but was denied and responded to with “facts contrary to the actual events.”

He says he took the complaint process to the Investigations and Standards Office — an independent body of the Ministry of Attorney General — where he received a response that contradicted the jail’s version of events and supported his own.

Daniels has an extensive criminal record with charges that include robbery, unlawful confinement, assault and kidnapping.

He was sentenced to 373 days in jail in Vernon court for fleeing police, driving while prohibited, mischief, theft, possession of stolen mail and other charges in March 2016.

He was more recently arrested in Kelowna on charges of armed robbery using a firearm and forcible confinement related to an incident that took place in Kamloops on Feb. 14, 2019.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to tips@infonews.ca and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.