Ottawa jail complaints still 3rd highest in Ontario

Correctional officers at the Ottawa jail forced an inmate to walk back to his cell after he broke his leg, and repeatedly told him to "shut up" when he complained about the pain in January 2013,according to the Ontario ombudsman's annual report.

It was one of 416 complaints against the Ottawa-CarletonDetention Centrein 2013-14, up from 389 complaints in 2012-13. The Ottawa jail had the third highest number of complaints, according to both reports.

• Read the Ontario ombudsman's complete 2013-14 report

OmbusdsmanAndr Marin detailed in his report how the man only filed a complaint"once he was out of jail and no longer feared reprisal."

The man slipped and fell in January 2013in a spot where "staff had neglected to put up a 'wet floor' warningsign," the report detailed.

Though his femur bone was broken, correctional staff ignored his protest that he could not walk, the report said. A nurse checked his leg and prescribed him an ice pack, the report said.

A scene was also captured on video on the jail's internal cameras that showed staff carrying him down the stairs in a wheelchair, "allowing it to bump hard against each stair," the report said.

Five former OCDCinmates recently filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against the province for alleged abuses at the jail in April 2012.

The Central East Correctional Centre had the highest number of complaints in 2013-2014 at 532, followed by theCentral North Correctional Centre at 430.