Moncton man pleads guilty in death of fellow inmate at Shediac jail

A 20-year-old Moncton man accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Shediac jail last year has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Michael Fallon was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Michael Matchettat the Southeast Regional Correction Centre.

A five-day preliminary hearing was supposed to start on Monday.

Instead,Fallonpleaded guilty to manslaughter and to assaulting a police officer.

Happened in common area

Fallon and Matchett were both inmates at the Shediac jail, said Crown prosecutor Annie St. Jacquesas she went over the facts of the case in provincial court.

On Oct. 26, 2018, at about 8:50 p.m., Fallon and Matchett, of Miramichi, were in a common area in Unit 1 of the jail.

Fallon punched Matchett in the face, then pushed him to the ground and punched him again.

Correctional officers tookFallon to another area, and he wasarrested on a charge ofaggravated assaultand given the right to contact a lawyer.

St. Jacques said the incident was captured on the correctional centre's security video.

Matchett, meanwhile, had lost consciousness after suffering aserious injury to the back of his head during the attack.

He was rushed to the Moncton Hospital and never regained consciousness.

Matchett died Nov. 3, 2018. An autopsy was performed, and the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.

On Nov. 7, 2018, RCMP Const. Craig Owen went to the Shediac jail to arrest Fallon on a charge of second-degree murder.

Head butted Mountie

While Owen and another officer were taking a statement, Fallon became aggressive with the officers and was taken to another room to calm down.

During transport, Fallon struck Owen's face with his head in what St. Jacques said is commonly referred to as a "head butt."Owen suffered a broken nose.

Fallon was then returned to his cell.

20-year-old accused of murdering fellow inmate at Shediac jail

Defence lawyers Martin Goguen and Lisanne Maurice agreed to the facts of the case.

The Crown is requesting a victim impact statement from both Matchett's family and Owen.

The defence has asked for a pre-sentence report.

Judge William McCarroll set sentencing for Sept. 26at 9:30 a.m.