Inside a mother’s fight to get her son out of prison and into a hospital

It was mid-January and Beverley Murphy was in court to see her son Mitchell, who is facing criminal charges. Mitchell, 32, was appearing virtually, but Beverley didn’t recognize him until her ex-husband, Wayne Brushett, pointed him out on the screen for her.

“Oh my God, I could see the bones in his arm,” she told The Independent during a recent interview, saying Mitchell had lost a significant amount of weight since she last saw him in August 2024.

“If you seen a picture of him from two years ago and a picture of him now, you wouldn’t recognize him,” she said. “I never ever thought I’d go through what I’ve been through since September.” It was last September, Beverley said, when Mitchell was arrested and remanded at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary (HMP) in St. John’s, Newfoundland’s 19th century prison notorious for rodents, overcrowding, staffing issues and violence. She didn’t hear from him for a while, she said. “When he finally started calling me, I was like, ‘Oh my god, something’s wrong with him.’ At first I didn’t know how to handle it; he wasn’t making any sense.”

Mitchell is facing five counts of theft under $5,000, one count robbery, one count of possessing a weapon for dangerous purposes, and more than a dozen counts of breaking a condition of his probation or release.

In the fall Beverley began recording her phone conversations with Mitchell so she could make the case that her son should be hospitalized, not incarcerated. For months she has been asking the government to transfer Mitchell to a hospital. She has pleaded with cabinet ministers, appealed publicly on VOCM Open Line, and protested outside Her Majesty’s Penitentiary. 

Five months later, Mitchell remains behind bars, his health crisis worsening, Beverley says. Government officials have told her they can’t say much about her son because he has not consented to sharing information with her. She’s also been told Mitchell has been seen by a doctor and has not qualified for transfer to a hospital.

If he doesn’t get out of HMP soon, she says, Mitchell’s health might never recover.

Criminalization of mental illness

On Dec. 3, Beverley pleaded with provincial Mental Health and Addictions Minister John Abbott, telling him in an email shared with The Independent that Mitchell was incarcerated “despite suffering from a severe mental health crisis and being in a state of full-blown psychosis.” She tells Abbott that Mitchell has “untreated bipolar disorder” and his situation demands “urgent intervention”.

During her interview with The Independent, Beverley described Mitchell as an avid outdoorsman who loves fishing. “He has a kind soul [and is] very intelligent,” she said, recalling how as a kid Mitchell showed an interest in business. “He used to sell cigarettes in school for a dollar each and made a fortune,” she says with a chuckle. “He had a car wash business one summer and he only had to work two days a week because he cleaned ‘er.”

Beverley said Mitchell’s mental health issues date back to childhood, when he was diagnosed with ADHD. She said he began struggling with addiction as an adult, and that she only became aware of the issue when Mitchell checked himself into rehab in 2020. She believes addiction is a factor in Mitchell’s behaviour and legal problems.

Chandra Kavanagh, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association-NL, says when individuals with mental illness are incarcerated, it’s crucial to understand the relationship between their health and their behaviour. “We know that mental illness rates within incarcerated populations are four to seven times higher than the national average, but there are a bunch of reasons for this that lead to the criminalization of [people with] mental health issues,” she says, citing poverty, histories of physical or mental abuse, and substance use as examples.

Kavanagh says it’s “almost universally the case that people with mental illness are no more violent than the rest of the population,” with the rare exception of a person experiencing psychosis, a state of mind in which the individual has lost contact with physical reality. “When someone has a mental illness and they’re in a state of psychosis, they are more likely, by a small fraction, to engage in violent behaviour. But, psychosis responds to treatment,” she adds.

“If someone is treated for psychosis, then we know that we can prevent this violent behaviour from happening,” Kavanagh says. “But if what we’re seeing is violent behaviour or criminality that’s coming about as a result of psychosis, and that psychosis goes untreated, then we know that this person’s not going to get better, the behaviour’s not going to get any better.”

In her Dec. 3 email to Abbott, Beverley writes: “I implore you to intervene immediately and ensure that my son is transferred to a hospital for a comprehensive psychiatric assessment and treatment. This is not only a legal obligation but a moral one.”

Mental health and the law

With the help of mental health and addictions advocate Tina Olivero, whose group Guardians for Recovery advocates for changes to the province’s Mental Health Care and Treatment Act, Beverley is arguing for Mitchell’s involuntary transfer out of HMP and to a hospital.

In her Dec. 3 email to Abbott she refers the minister to Sections 17 and 18 of the act, which permit the transfer of incarcerated people without their consent to a hospital under certain conditions.

For that to happen, an inmate must undergo a psychiatric assessment and be deemed “likely to cause harm” to themself or others; to “suffer substantial mental or physical deterioration or serious physical impairment if he or she is not admitted to and detained in a psychiatric unit as an involuntary patient”; and be “unable to fully appreciate the nature and consequences of the mental disorder or to make an informed decision regarding his or her need for treatment or care and supervision”; and be “in need of treatment or care and supervision that can be provided only in a psychiatric unit and is not suitable for admission as a voluntary patient.”

Beverley tells Abbott that “Mitchell’s condition clearly met these criteria,” and that she has “written documentation and recordings of Mitchell threatening to harm others and paranoia of being harmed while in psychosis.” She alleges Mitchell was “placed in solitary confinement,” which she calls “a gross misapplication of our justice system and a failure to adhere to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mental Health Care and Treatment Act.”

Beverley then threatens legal action, “if the government cannot provide documentation that my son has received a psychiatric assessment and care in accordance with the Mental Health Act. “The failure to provide adequate care not only endangers Mitchell’s life but erodes public trust in our mental health and justice systems,” she writes.

As fall turned to winter, Beverley became increasingly worried that Mitchell was becoming isolated. She said he didn’t call to wish his 10-year-old son a happy birthday and didn’t make contact over Christmas. This wasn’t normal behaviour, she says, explaining Mitchell is an outgoing person and loves his son. “If there’s 10 people in a room, he would go out and see if 10 people wanted anything, because he’s the most kind-hearted, loving person.”

On Jan. 14, Olivero emailed Abbott, Justice Minister John Hogan, Premier Andrew Furey and several other government officials, saying Mitchell is detained at HMP “in an ongoing state of psychosis,” and that “the lack of appropriate medical care is putting his life at risk.

“Immediate action must be taken to transfer Mitchell to the forensic unit at the Waterford Hospital, where he can receive the specialized psychiatric treatment he desperately needs,” she continues, adding Mitchell is “delusional and doesn’t know [if] he’s in or out of this world.

“Prolonging his stay at HMP without proper care is causing irreversible harm, including potential brain damage. It is inhumane to leave him in this state without the specialized psychiatric care only available at the forensic unit.”

Abbott responded the same day, telling Olivero he shared her email with “senior staff at NL Health Services and they advise that they are monitoring the care for Mr. Murphy and won’t be making any changes at this time.”

The next day Beverley wrote to the justice minister, telling Hogan that when Mitchell was arrested, “he was put in isolation with no medical attention until I started receiving phone calls from him saying he was being molested and tortured.” She says Mitchell’s calls “are getting worse,” and that after seeing her son during a court appearance on Jan. 13, “I think he is physically sick because he is gone away to nothing.”

In the email Beverley also tells Hogan that, “as his mother, I know that he is in the throes of severe psychosis, and each day in HMP is further deteriorating his fragile state. He has been suffering for three months now and his mental and physical health are nearing a breaking point. It is also proven that psychosis without treatment can lead to further brain damage which I hear through my phone calls from my son.

“I am begging for your intervention,” she continues. “My son needs psychiatric treatment, not incarceration. He needs to be put in a hospital where he can get a comprehensive evaluation, including a brain scan and proper diagnosis by medical professionals.”

Hogan responded, offering to have a phone call with Beverley the following day. Beverley says the minister was kind and sympathetic on the call but that he told her Mitchell would continue being treated and monitored inside the penitentiary.

In a Jan. 16 email to both of Mitchell’s parents, Senior Director of Provincial Correctional Health Services Krista Wade confirmed that Mitchell would continue to receive his care at HMP. “I want to assure you that Correctional Health has a primary health care team at HMP, that includes psychiatry, nursing, nurse practitioners for both primary care and addictions medicine, clinical psychologist, clinical pharmacist, addictions counsellor and a clinical social worker,” Wade says in the email.

“As I’ve explained previously, only the treating physician and the court (a Judge can request admission for a psychiatric assessment for the purpose of fitness to stand trial) can move an individual in custody to hospital,” she continues. “At the present time, [Mitchell’s] physician feels he can be treated at HMP, but does assess this regularly.”

Unsatisfied, Beverley emailed Hogan again on Jan. 20, saying she was “hoping you have some good news with regard to Mitchell as time is getting short for his next court date.” Hogan replied the next day, saying he had talked to “someone at HMP” but added “we cannot disclose info as you need the consent from Mitchell. I know you have tried to get that but it hasn’t happened yet.” Hogan then says he will “pass this email along as well and see if consent is possible.”

To date, Mitchell has not consented to sharing information with his family. But it’s not clear if he is in a state of mind to make a decision one way or the other.

Ethics of involuntary treatment 

If an inmate experiences psychosis inside HMP and is not getting the treatment they need, Kavanagh says their situation “is not going to get any better, it is only going to get worse.” But the ethical considerations around involuntary treatment present a challenging dilemma for decision-makers. It’s “our right as citizens to keep our health care information private and it’s one of the most protected pieces of data that we have,” Kavanagh explains. There’s also a concern that forced treatment “violates international conventions on human rights, medical ethics, and in fact can lead to higher fatality rates,” she says. “There are real risks that are associated with involuntary treatment [and it’s] not a conversation at all to be taken lightly.”

In 2023 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a guidance document to help jurisdictions looking to reform legislation to end human rights abuses in mental health care. “Human rights abuses and coercive practices in mental health care, supported by existing legislation and policies, are still far too common,” the WHO said in October 2023, citing “involuntary hospitalization and treatment” as a key issue.

“There are critical questions that we can ask about the treatment of people who are incarcerated,” Kavanagh says. “But I think that this is a very tricky and debatable conversation that has very concerning ethical issues on both sides — on the side of someone getting the treatment they need when they don’t have the cognitive capacity to ask for it, and then someone being forced into treatment against their will.”

When it comes to psychosis, if Mitchell or anyone else incarcerated at HMP “is experiencing a psychotic episode, then they need mental health treatment for that,” Kavanagh says. But even if Mitchell is not experiencing a psychotic episode, she says there’s “still a conversation to be had about the levels of stress and discomfort that happen in HMP, and if we can rehabilitate people and prepare them to be functional citizens of our community without having that support that they need to get there.”

Can anyone get better in HMP?

Following the death of inmate Austin Aylward Jr. at HMP almost two decades ago, the provincial government commissioned a review of the province’s prison system. The resulting 2008 report called HMP’s physical condition “deplorable” and its lack of cleanliness “horrendous”. It further noted the penitentiary “has outlived its life expectancy.”

In the report, Dr. Kevin Hogan, then clinical chief at Eastern Health, spoke of the “criminalization of the mentally ill, who end up [at HMP]”. The report also cites late forensic psychiatrist Dr. Nizar Ladha, who said many inmates who turn to crime have not been treated for their illness. Dr. Ladha also “stressed the importance of viewing inmates afflicted with mental disorders as patients first.” Peter Ralph, a legal aid lawyer, says in the report that, “after experiencing the environment at HMP, many clients end up ‘sicker’ than when they arrived.” 

The report, Decades of Darkness: Moving Towards the Light, made 77 recommendations to then Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy, 10 of which pertain to mental health.

Over a period of 10 months in 2017 and 2018, four inmates—Douglas Neary, Skye Martin, Samantha Piercey and Christopher Sutton—died while incarcerated at HMP and the Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville. The deaths prompted the province to commission an independent external review of issues within the two facilities.

The report, published in December 2018, notes that “many of the issues identified in [past] reports continue to arise within the prison system [and] cannot be ignored.” It also points out that in the course of the review team’s investigation, “it became clear that the issues in the prison system are contributing to the poor mental health of inmates.” The report concluded that, due to government’s failure to prioritize modernizing the province’s correctional system, “it has now reached a breaking point.” 

Kavanagh says  based on everything we know about HMP, it’s unlikely an incarcerated person experiencing psychosis could recover there. “Psychosis responds to treatment that needs to be provided by mental health professionals, by physicians, by specialists, by registered mental health nurses. And if those folks are not regularly available, if those treatments are not regularly available, if the kind of therapies people need are not regularly available, then no, nobody could get better in that situation,” she says.

On Jan. 29, Beverley Murphy, Olivero and other mental health and addiction advocates held a rally outside HMP to bring attention to Mitchell’s case, and to call for reforms on how mental illness is handled in the prison system. “I just want my son to get help, my son is going to die. If he’s not going to die in [prison], he’ll die out on the streets” once he’s released, Beverley told The Independent days before the rally.

In a lengthy letter addressed to Premier Andrew Furey and several government ministers, Olivero laid out the reasons for Wednesday’s rally. “The simple, stark truth is this: your departments have failed to act with the urgency, precision, and responsibility this situation demands,” she says in the letter. “You have not conducted the necessary inquiries into why Mitchell Murphy’s mental state has deteriorated to such a degree while under your care. This is a catastrophic abdication of duty.”

Beverley worries that if Mitchell doesn’t get help soon she may never again get to see the son she knows. “He’s not getting better, he’s getting worse. His body is deteriorating,” she says. “I’m scared that my son is finally going to get into a hospital, and he’s not ever going to get back to being Mitchell Murphy.

“And if that’s the case, I’m going to sue the ass off every government official that sat back on their ass while I begged to get my son some help.”