Inmate takes his own life at Ottawa jail

CTV Ottawa: Inmate dies by suicide CTV's Matt Skube with the investigation into the suicide of Yousef Hussein, who die awaiting trial for a series of sexual assaults.

A man waiting to stand trial for a series of sexual assaults took his own life at the Ottawa detention centre.

Yousef Hussein was facing charges in connection with six sexual assaults that happened in a 14 month period from 2012 to 2013.

Other inmates say Hussein was in good spirits last week. Larry Seguin says Hussein was playing cards and reading his favourite magazine on Friday.

On the same day, Hussein refused a transfer to the detention centre in Lindsay. Seguin believes he did that in order to stay close to family. The circumstances leading up to the suicide aren't clear.

Hussein's lawyer, Michael Johnston, tells CTV he was surprised to hear the news. Johnston recently saw Hussein and says he was in good spirits.

The coroner's office has taken over the investigation. An inquest is mandatory when an inmate dies in custody and it's not from natural causes.

Hussein's trial wasn't expected to start until May of 2017, three years after he was arrested. Johnston was planning on asking to have the charges stayed, claiming that's an unreasonable amount of time to wait for a trial.

Hussein is the second inmate to die at the detention centre in the last two weeks. The other death was from natural causes.

The news comes the same day a task force dealing with overcrowding and unsanitary conditions at the jail met for the first time. Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi has set a deadline of June 1 for the task force to come up with an action plan for the jail.