A Superior Court judge has taken the “extreme” step of reducing a man’s seven-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and gun possession to time served because of his treatment inside the Toronto South Detention Centre.

Tal Singh Fermah “has endured conditions in our institution — our most modern institution in the province — that I consider to be harsh and unconscionable and I don’t think he should serve any more time. I’m just going to sentence him to time served,” Justice Anne Molloy said last week.

“It’s an extreme thing that I’m doing,” she said. She added he should be released from custody “as soon as possible.”

Molloy delivered her bottom-line with just a few comments, but promised to release a written ruling as soon as possible, with “proper reasons” otherwise “it’s not going to hold up” on appeal, she told court June 6.

In an email to the Star, defence lawyer Nakita Kelsey said she was “overjoyed” by the decision, calling it “a groundbreaking remedy for clients who are not treated properly in jail.”

“This decision should place the treatment of prisoners at (the jail) under a microscope and should also act as a catalyst for a broader review of the treatment of prisoners at correctional facilities,” she said. “This is a wake-up call for the authorities at these institutions.”

While Molloy has a reputation for bold decisions on prisoner welfare, she isn’t the first judge to offer a sentencing discount to offenders after raising concerns about the facility.

In March, Justice John McMahon shaved time from a convicted drug dealer’s sentence, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable” and “unfair” that inmates at the South are frequently subjected to full lockdowns, keeping them confined to cells, unable to use the phones and have visitors, including seeing their lawyers.

Read more:

Senior judge slams ‘unacceptable’ lockdowns at crowded Toronto South Detention Centre

Reintegration centre at Toronto South jail to work out of van after losing lease

The report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls calls for sweeping justice reform. Here’s what that would require

Last year, Justice Robert Goldstein gave a young man found guilty of possessing a firearm enhanced credit for the amount of time he spent on lockdown, writing in his decision that “We should not simply normalize unacceptable conditions in a jail.”

Daniel Brown, a Toronto defence lawyer and vice president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said the “persistent denial of human rights to inmates ... at the Toronto South Detention Centre should spark public outrage.” He was not involved in the Fermah case.

“Moreover, this inhumane treatment of prisoners has only gotten worse notwithstanding judicial decisions significantly reducing jail sentences for those who have been impacted by these horrific jail conditions.”

This past January, Molloy convicted Fermah, 32, of firearm-related and drug trafficking charges after a judge-alone trial last fall. During a search of his home, police found a lockbox containing 111.24 grams of heroin, a Glock handgun, ammunition, a weigh scale and a box of small baggies.

Fermah has been in custody two-and-a-half years. During that time, Molloy heard that Fermah experienced 205 days of lockdown and 214 half days of lockdown.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

In an affidavit filed in court by Kelsey, Fermah outlined the physical and mental hardship of being assaulted by another inmate, forced to sleep on the floor and “harassment and oppressive treatment by (jail) staff.”

He suffers from a medical condition that causes him to have seizures and has received incorrect dosages of medication — or has not been provided with any medication at all, his affidavit states.

“I have lived in fear of my health, my safety and of my life.”

Molloy said she was particularly “very disturbed” that Fermah, who suffers from numerous medical conditions, including epilepsy, was assigned to sleep in a top bunk, where “he could have died” if he had a seizure. She was critical of the institution for ignoring repeated requests for intervention by medical authorities and his lawyers.

“This is just ... this should not be happening in an institution anywhere in this country, much less the city of Toronto.”

Crown attorney Gary Valiquette told the Star in an email that the Attorney General is awaiting the written ruling before deciding whether to file an appeal in the 30-day period.

Fermah is being held in custody on an immigration hold and faces deportation.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said it would be inappropriate to comment on an individual case.

“The ministry has a legal responsibility to uphold the orders of the courts and to ensure the safety and security of those in custody. The government is committed to ensuring that correctional services has the tools and resources that it needs,” Andrew Morrison wrote in email.

There was a time when harsh jail conditions led judges to routinely award three to one days credit for pre-trial custody. That changed when the federal government capped credit at one and a half days for every day in pre-trial detention, Brown explained in an email.

The Supreme Court upheld the cap in 2014 but said that individuals who have suffered particularly harsh treatment can look to other “remedies.” Since then, courts have dealt with complaints about prison conditions as constitutional violations. Typically, days spent in lockdown are awarded an additional day of credit, the defence lawyer wrote.