Wife turned to police to help husband

July 20, 2005
CBC News

A Digby woman whose husband died in police custody says she had asked the RCMP to arrest him so he could get treatment for his mental disorder.

Helen Saulnier says her husband Paul was in Yarmouth Regional Hospital twice in the last two years for psychiatric evaluations, but his condition got worse each time he left the hospital.

After the second time, she filed a harassment complaint against him with the police.

"I did speak to the police [Friday] and it was something I did not really want to talk to them about. But I felt that it is something that, in order to get him into the hospital, that this is something that had to be done," Saulnier said.

While Paul Saulnier was being arrested at the RCMP detachment in Digby, he tried to escape. He died after officers subdued him with pepper spray, a baton and a Taser gun.

Carol Tooton, with the Canadian Mental Health Association, said she doesn't know much about this incident, but trying to force people to stay on their medication often causes problems.

"As much as we'd like to say, 'Yes, stay on your medication and everything will be all right,' often times that's never going to be the reality. And I think we're going to have to be prepared to accept the choices that some people make," Tooton said.

Better community programs to support people with mental illness are needed, she said.