ST. JOHN’S, N.L. –
As Gwen Perry prepares for a Christmas without contact from her son, who is locked inside a notorious St. John’s, N.L., jail, she wants people to understand that many inmates need help, not incarceration.
Perry says her son, James Perry, is a loving father of two daughters who made good money working in the oilfields in Alberta before addiction and mental health issues upended his life.
She says that in July, when he finished his first stay at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary for theft and related crimes, he was released with nowhere to go and no support.
Perry says he soon spiralled back into drug use and stealing, and he is now back inside the crumbling, Victorian-era provincial jail, where mould, rat infestations and chronic understaffing are well documented.
She says the conditions are exacerbating her son’s physical and mental health issues, and she is urging the public and the provincial government to better understand addiction — and what’s needed to support people who use drugs.
Perry lives about six hours away from the jail and the last video call she had with James was on Friday — and she won’t get another until after the holidays.