Ashley Smith and mental health in Canadian prisons

A video shows a teenage Ashley Smith heavily restrained on a prison transfer flight, her face covered with two hoods. Later scenes show her surrounded by guards in gas masks and riot gear that prompted federal officials to stop their efforts to restrain the scope of an inquest that resumes this week.

Smith was 19 when she choked to death after wrapping a ligature around her neck in a Kitchener, Ont., prison five years ago as guards, who say they had been instructed not to intervene, stood watch outside her cell.

The New Brunswick teen was initially incarcerated as a young offender, but was later transferred to the federal system. In the year before her death, Smith was transferred 17 times between nine institutions across the country.

The questions about her death have raised wider issues.

The Current looksat the intersection of mental illness and Canada's criminal justice system.