Inquest into Shepody Healing Centre inmate Glen Wareham's death continues

Anything from a paper clip to a toothbrush could be used by Glen Edward Wareham to harm himself, the inquest into the Shepody Healing Centre inmate's death was told on Wednesday.

Nurse PauletteRobichaud was the manager of the acute psychiatric unit at the Correctional Service of Canada facility in Dorchesterandtestified about Wareham's "constant self-harm" during his time in Shepody.

"There were a lot of incidents," she said. "We had set up in the staff nurse's office because we were so burned out."

Robichaud recalled on one occasion Wareham inserted a toothbrush in his abdomen. The staff nurse was so upset she started crying, so Robichaud sent her away and called the hospital herself.

Wareham was put in a secure room so he could heal"because for him a paper clip was a weapon," she said.

Robichaud testified Wareham's incidents of self-harm "traumatized the staff."

He got a rush from the reaction.- Paulette Robichaud, manager of acute psychiatric unit

"I remember being called and the nurse crying because he had opened up his abdomenand his intestines were just hanging," she said.

"Another time he had torn open his scrotum and his testicles were just hanging.

"He got a rush from the reaction," testified Robichaud. "It seems like he didn't feel the pain.

"It was eerie for the staff because he just stood there with his bowels just hanging."

Died in 2010

Wareham died in hospital in 2010 from complications from self-harm. The native of New Waterford, N.S., was 28.

Robichaud was asked if she had any recommendations on how the prison system might have dealt with Wareham differently. She said she had thought about that over the years but "We had a very strong team."

The jury asked Robichaudwhat Shepody's mandate was in dealing with prisoners with mental health issues. She said their mandate is to stabilize their anxiety and then help them cope with their mental illness.

The inquest also heard Wareham had been sexually abused as a child and his stepfather cut off his penis when he was six years old.

His first encounter with the corrections system came when he was 12 years old and was admitted to a provincial care unit in Nova Scotia. He was later sent to a facility in Shelbourne where he was sexually assaulted.

Later, in a psychiatric facility he engaged in sexual activity with a nurse who was many years his senior.

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Dr. Serge Landrytestified TuesdayWarehamhad a fixation with his abdomenand would cut and tear open skin and muscle and reach into his abdominal cavity and injure his intestines. He also swallowed objects and would insert wires and batteries into his urethra.

Due to Wareham's frequent attempts to harm himself, he was routinely restrained.

Wareham sustained so many injuries to his abdomen over the years it resulted in scarring and adhesions to his bowel.

Wareham's bowel ultimately shut down, so hecouldn't be fed. Feeding through an intravenous line ultimately led to Wareham contracting an infection, which led to his death.

Landry classified Wareham's death as "natural" on the death certificate. The other options available to him were to classify the death as byaccidentor suicide.

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