WARNING: this story contains a reference to suicidal ideation.
THUNDER BAY — The lawyers defending Isaac Talbot-Hall argued the “inhumane” and “degrading” conditions he’s already experienced during his two-and-a-half years in jail warrant a lighter sentence.
Talbot-Hall, 29, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year in the stabbing death of Shawn Newsome, 28, at an Andras Court apartment in 2022. He was initially charged with second-degree murder.
A virtual sentencing hearing was held Tuesday morning where defence counsel Navin Sookram presented a sworn affidavit detailing the conditions Talbot-Hall has been in during his time in pre-sentencing custody at the Thunder Bay District Jail and the Central North Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison in Penetanguishene in southern Ontario.
Those included frequent days-long lockdowns (primarily at Central North) and triple-bunking, or having three inmates in a cell (primarily at the local district jail).
Those conditions essentially meant that up to three adult males were “crammed into a human shoebox,” Sookram said to Justice Helen Pierce.
Furthermore, he said, the lockdowns were like “psychological torture” to the inmates — during those times, they didn’t have access to things like showers and fresh bedding. It “made him feel less than human,” Sookram said, adding that, at the time, Talbot-Hall hadn’t yet been convicted of a crime.
The defence is arguing for a five-year sentence for Talbot-Hall with up to two years of credit for his time in pre-trial custody.
The Crown has advocated for a 10-year sentence. On Tuesday, Crown attorney Brendan Thomas said Talbot-Hall should be credited with no more than a year of time taken off the sentence, calling what the defence is asking too “extreme.”
Thomas didn't contest the contents of the affidavit and declined to cross-examine.
The lockdowns, which Sookram told the court would last multiple days at a time would come unexpectedly, meaning the inmates were “in the dark — they don’t know it’s coming.”
It affected Talbot-Hall’s mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, irritability, stress, claustrophobia and more-intense-than-usual suicidal thoughts, Sookram said.
“It’s remarkable that in the 21st century that this is the way we treat inmates,” he said, adding that it’s “remarkable in the most pejorative sense.”
That, he said, is grounds for mitigation on Talbot-Hall’s sentence.
Court was adjourned on Tuesday. Pierce is scheduled to deliver her sentence Wednesday afternoon.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available through Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline (call or text 988), Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868; text 686868; kidshelpphone.ca), and the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (suicideprevention.ca/resources).
