A Hells Angels, who was suing the Attorney General of Quebec for more than $ 700,000 in civil proceedings, has won a case in court and will be able to obtain all the medical equipment and care necessary for his physical handicap in detention.
This decision will also benefit all detainees with disabilities or with a physical state of health that requires special care, says his lawyer, M e Rudi Daelman
The Hells Angels is Serge Lebrasseur, 57, member of the Montreal chapter. He is well known in the Sorel region, where he lives, and has a long list of criminal records. In March 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to murder in the wake of Operation SharQc.
In 1994, Lebrasseur suffered a gunshot trauma which left him with serious permanent physical damage.
Among other things, he has a paralyzed leg, paralyzed intestines, an intestinal hernia, an injury to the lumbosacral plexus and cauda equina syndrome, which is severe pain in the spine.
Like most of the Hells Angels in Quebec, Lebrasseur was arrested during Operation SharQc in April 2009 and was then remanded in custody, awaiting trial, for six years at the Montreal Detention Facility – commonly called Bordeaux – and at the Rivière-des-Prairies Establishment.
The motorcyclist lamented not having received the appropriate care for his state of health during these years of incarceration and claimed that his rights guaranteed by the Charter were not respected, and he filed a first civil action against the Attorney General of Quebec in 2013.
Lebrasseur was released while his pursuit was still active, but he was again arrested, convicted and incarcerated in 2021, for threatening a security guard who was on the road near the Sorel-Tracy-Saint-Ignace-de ferry. -Loyola and for subsequently breaking one of his conditions of provisional release.
But while he was incarcerated at the Sorel-Tracy Institution between May and June, Lebrasseur claimed to have been the victim of mistreatment and discrimination in relation to his physical disabilities.
He claims in particular to have undergone a strip search during which he was pinned to the ground, because he could not comply with the directives of the guards because of his handicap, not to have received soap for his hygiene, which he was given. given a non-functional splint and that he was unable to benefit from an orthopedic mattress despite repeated requests from him.
The motorcyclist then presented a new request to institute proceedings for damages before the Court of Quebec civil division, against the Attorney General of Quebec, demanding to receive the required care and equipment, and a sum of $ 30,000.
A settlement occurs
But last spring, an agreement was reached between Lebrasseur and the Attorney General of Quebec and it was approved a few weeks later by the Superior Court, civil division.
Under this agreement, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique undertakes, in particular, to ensure that all detainees with a handicap or significant health problems can benefit from the necessary medical equipment and care within a reasonable time, and that a follow-up be insured.
If he ever returns to prison, the biker should therefore be able to benefit from the equipment he has requested in his requests, in particular an adapted orthopedic mattress, ergonomic cushions, a cane, a wheelchair or a walker for his travels, an ergonomic bench and grab bars for his toilet and in the shower, and food adapted to his condition.
The agreement also provides for a monetary settlement, the content of which is not known.
“The Attorney General of Quebec has committed in writing to warn all provincial detention centers of this particular situation in order to prevent events like those Mr. Lebrasseur experienced from simply not happening again, to the great benefit. prisoners with disabilities ”.
“I can only hope that the Quebec government will react to definitively resolve this problem that this category of people is experiencing in our prisons in Quebec as we approach the year 2022”.
“People with disabilities and prisoners will know the position of the State following the agreement with Mr. Lebrasseur on this problem and will indeed see that a change of mentality in prisons has just appeared”, says the lawyer of the motorcyclist. , M e Rudi Daelman.
