RCMP Watch

CBC News

A Labrador lawyer says she is outraged that a female client was allegedly held naked in a police lockup cell for three days.

Stacey Ryan said her client, Carol Ikkusik, felt humiliated and degraded by the experience, which included being forced to sleep on a concrete floor.

“[It is] unbelievable for somebody being treated in such a manner,” said Ryan.

Ryan said Ikkusik, 26, remained naked for three days in a cell while under guards’ continual supervision, although she was eventually given a blanket to sleep on.

“So, certainly, [it was] very degrading and humiliating for anybody to be treated in such a manner.”

Ryan has filed a verbal complaint with the RCMP over the matter.

Details of the case emerged in Happy Valley-Goose Bay court last week, during a sentencing hearing.

Ikkusik had been found guilty of assault, in the ninth instance involving an attack against her common-law husband. Ikkusik is facing up to a year in prison.

During the sentencing hearing, Ikkusik, a resident of Nain, said that while on remand last month she made a threat to harm herself.

After Ikkusik was seen by a doctor, guards then took the mattress and blanket from her cell and forced her to strip. She said she was forced to sleep on a concrete floor.

Ryan said the allegations disturbed her.

“There’s no need – absolutely not – for a prisoner, especially a woman, to be left in the cells naked,” said Ryan.

In court, the Crown suggested that Ikkusik exaggerated her story to try to get a lesser sentence.

Ryan is indeed asking that Ikkusik be released on time served, based on the humiliation she says her client endured.

However, Ryan said she has confirmed the incident independently. She will not reveal from whom she obtained that information.

Staff Sgt. Jeff Hunter said an internal RCMP investigation has been opened.

“The nature of the complaint that I received was quite serious in nature, and it prompted an immediate reaction,” Hunter said.

Hunter said Ikkusik can call for an external review if she is not satisfied with the police report once it is completed.