Prison officials violated one of the notorious Bacon brothers’ rights by recording his phone conversations with his lawyer, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled.
Jamie Bacon’s privileged calls were taped between April and November 2009 while he was being held on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the Surrey Six slayings.
In his decision, posted online Wednesday, Justice Mark McEwan ruled the infamous gangster’s rights had indeed been breached.
“In the deprived circumstances of even a lawfully managed remand centre, inmates must not suffer the insecurity of worrying that their privileged calls might be recorded,” McEwan wrote.
The justice did not recommend a remedy to ensure the situation does not come up again, but said if Bacon ever returns to the same Surrey Pre-Trial Centre he must be provided a private phone line.
“I will simply state flatly that it is the expectation of this court that persons placed in the safekeeping of jailers, including the respondent, will not be vulnerable to such breaches,” McEwan said.
Bacon has since been transferred to another federal institution, where he is serving time on an unrelated weapons charge.
McEwan also ordered that the recordings must be thrown out, and that Bacon is entitled to undisclosed special costs.
The gangster’s legal victory follows another dating back to 2010 involving his stay at the same Surrey Pre-Trial Centre, where the court heard he was repeatedly held for 23 hours a day and denied visitors and access to legal counsel.
McEwan, who also oversaw that case, ruled that Bacon’s charter rights were violated in that situation as well.
