Province reports death of inmate at Madawaska jail

Another inmate has died in custody inthe provincial correctional system, the Department of Justice and Public Safety announced Monday.

Wesley Robert Geneau, 40, was found unresponsive at the Madawaska Regional Correctional Centre on Sunday morning, according to a news release.

Staff administered first aid and Geneauwas transported to the Edmundston Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead, it said.

"Neither foul play nor self-harm are suspected."

But local police and the coroner's officehave both been advised, which is standard practice.

"This information is being released in accordance with the department's policy," the release said.

No other information about his death has been disclosed.

"Details of an individual's health history are protected under Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act legislation," department spokesperson Geoffrey Downey said in an emailed statement.

Geneau was remanded into custody on Aug. 30 and had been serving a 221-day sentence since Dec. 6, said Downey, without providingthe charge or charges for which he was convicted.

His earliest release date would have beenMay 15, he said.

This is the second death of an inmate in a provincial jail ina week.

Skyler Sappier, 28,a member of the Neqotkuk First Nation, formerly known as Tobique First Nation, was serving a sentence at the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre when he died in hospital Jan. 31.

He was sick with COVID-19, according to his family.A coroner'sinquesthas been ordered into his death.