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Inmate stabbed seven times in the head sues Manitoba prison officers alleging negligence

File image of Stony Mountain Institution. File image of Stony Mountain Institution.
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WINNIPEG -

An inmate in a Manitoba prison is suing five corrections officers alleging negligence led to an attack where he was stabbed seven times in the head and face.

Christopher Calamusa, an inmate in the Stony Mountain Institution, filed a statement of claim in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench on August 10, 2021. The claim lists five unnamed corrections officers and the Attorney General of Canada – who is responsible for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) – as defendants.

The claim alleges Calamusa had been in a common area for inmates on August 11, 2019, when he was beaten and stabbed around seven times in the head and face by a group of other inmates.

The claim alleges the corrections officers were not at their stations during the attack and had "abandoned their duty to guard and protect him." The claim said the inmates took advantage of the officers' absence to attack Calamusa.

The claim said when the officers did intervene, Calamusa was shot with a rubber bullet and pepper-sprayed.

Calamusa has been left with permanent facial nerve damage, scarring to his face, loss of feeling and numbness, and traumatic head injuries which caused permanent cognitive deficits, according to the claim.

He also deals with post-traumatic stress disorder, fear and paranoia, and needs professional counselling, the claim said.

"Calamusa's injuries arose as a direct consequence of the negligence of (the corrections officers)," the claim reads.

Calamusa is seeking damages, saying the injuries have impacted his homemaking ability and capacity to work as a casual manual labourer.

None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court.

A CSC spokesperson told CTV News the department is reviewing the claim and takes the allegations very seriously.

"CSC staff and senior management strive to ensure that our work to rehabilitate offenders is done safely and with the utmost professionalism," they said in an emailed statement.

CSC would not comment further as the matter is before the courts. The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers declined to comment.

As of Wednesday, no statement of defence had been filed.

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