A Victoria criminal lawyer says his client was attacked and stabbed this week while in custody at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre on Wilkinson Road.
Denis Bernsten said his client told him he had warned a senior official at the provincial facility on Thursday of the possibility of an attack.
The man, who is Indigenous, believes the attack was racially motivated.
Despite reporting concerns, the man’s cell door was not locked for his protection when necessary, Bernsten said.
The man was attacked by a group of men and stabbed twice, his lawyer said.
He was taken to hospital, where he received about 35 stitches before being returned to the jail, where he was placed in a segregated unit.
B.C. Corrections said in a statement that an incident occurred Thursday at the jail “involving an individual in custody that required medical attention.”
Saanich police and B.C. Corrections are investigating, the statement said.
“B.C. Corrections maintains zero tolerance of violence in its centres. No incidents of violence or aggression are ever acceptable. All critical incidents are investigated and, as appropriate, the police of jurisdiction are informed,” it said.
