WINNIPEG -- A former Headingley inmate who suffered brain injuries during a jailhouse assault last April is suing correctional officials for failing to protect him by not segregating him in a sex offender's unit.

Nicholas Tanner, who was serving remand time in Headingley Correctional Centre last April for a sexual assault charge that was eventually stayed, was beaten and kicked in the head inside the prison on April 6.

A fellow inmate, Jason Boubard, was charged with aggravated assault in connection with the attack.

Tanner, through his mother, filed a lawsuit on Christmas Eve claiming that the attack has caused him permanent brain damage and that Boubard, unnamed guards, and correctional officials including the current and former justice ministers and the jail superintendent are all liable.

The suit claims the 21-year-old Tanner suffered a subdural hematoma (brain hemorrhage) during the attack and is now unable to speak or comprehend things. The suit claims Tanner is "totally and completely disabled physically and mentally and will remain so for the rest of his life."

Tanner's lawsuit alleges that since he had been charged with sex assault, prison officials ought to have known to keep him out of the general prison population, where he faced an increased risk of violence.

The suit also alleges that guards, identified as John, Jim and Jack Doe, should have intervened and stopped the attack.

Boubard, who has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault with a weapon, uttering threats and theft, was in Headingley at the time awaiting charges of robbery and forcible confinement.

The suit alleges that he used "disproportionate, excessive and unjustifiable" force against Tanner and has "a propensity for assault and battery" and a particular "animosity towards sexual offenders."

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

paul.turenne@sunmedia.ca