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Faulty door caused teen's fall down elevator
shaft: inquiry
Wed, 03 May 2006
Click here for
more articles re: the death of Kyle Young
FROM JUNE 30, 2005:
Testimony
wraps up in Alberta inquiry into elevator death
 A
broken door is to blame for the death of a handcuffed teenager who
plunged five storeys down an elevator shaft at an Edmonton
courthouse in 2004, an inquiry says.
That's the key finding of the inquiry's report
in a case that drew national attention after it was revealed that
Kyle Young, a 16-year-old prisoner, was being restrained against the
elevator door by two guards.
The head of the inquiry, Judge Jerry LeGrandeur,
cleared the guards of any wrongdoing, finding they did not use
excessive force as they restrained the prisoner.
His report, made public this week, blames a
mechanical problem in the door, which gave way and swung inward like
a closet door suddenly popping off its track.
Kyle Young, a 16-year-old prisoner, was being
restrained against an elevator door when it gave way and let him
fall into the shaft.
Young, who was handcuffed and shackled, fell
five floors and became suspended by his neck on a structural
bracket.
During the inquiry – which wrapped up on June
30, 2005, after hearing from 22 witnesses over 4½ weeks – an
elevator expert testified that he believed a pin meant to hold the
door in its track was broken before the accident.
He said the amount of force needed to dislodge
the door was equivalent to a 150-pound person walking into the door
at a fast pace.
"The door was in a damaged condition before the
incident occurred," inquiry lawyer David Syme explained.
He said that led to the inquiry's conclusion
that the amount of force needed to cause the door to give way was
not that excessive.
The inquiry heard that when the tragedy
occurred, Young was in the courthouse's prisoner holding-cell area.
He was being moved to another floor because he had been disruptive.
The inquiry's report makes a number of
recommendations, including that:
• Young offenders make court
appearances by video conference whenever possible.
• All elevators in provincial
courthouses have hoist-door retainers to help ensure that they don't
swing open unexpectedly.
• All elevators in provincial
courthouses undergo regularly scheduled maintenance.
• The province give more detailed
rules governing the restraint of prisoners.
"I think everybody wishes that [the faulty
door] could have been discovered before this incident," said Annette
Bidniak, spokesperson for Alberta's Solicitor General.
"But it's just a horrible tragedy and everyone
involved wants to make sure that something like this never happens
again."
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