The executive director of the Yukon division of the Canadian Mental Health Association says the territorial government has to start looking at alternative care measures for people with mental illness.

'I'm hoping this is a wake-up to the Yukon,' Dudley Morgan said in an interview this morning.

He was referring to last Friday's ruling by territorial court Judge Heino Lilles that Steven Rathburn was not criminally responsible for assaulting his girlfriend in March as he was going through a sudden, severe psychotic episode at the time.

Lilles found Rathburn's detention in a segregation cell of the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically the right for protection from cruel and unusual punishment.

The segregation cell area Rathburn was in is often referred to as the 'hole' or the 'digger'. It's normally used for inmates who misbehave or break prison rules.

In early March, Rathburn consented to being in custody at the Whitehorse jail for an extra 30 days for a psychiatric assessment.

The assessment found his condition deteriorated during his time at WCC in the segregation cell. Lilles has ordered the 30-year-old be cared for at Whitehorse General Hospital.

Morgan noted there are much broader issues in dealing with mental health, and the government needs to consider alternatives in caring for people with mental illness.

While it would not have worked in this case, home-care is an example of one alternative the government should look at, Morgan said.

There are no trained workers at the jail to deal with psychiatric care. Placing prisoners awaiting psychiatric assessments in segregation cells is 'an embarrassment' for the Yukon, he added.

During his time in the cell, Rathburn showed signs he believed he was living in a video game.

The 37-year-old jail is officially designated as a hospital by the Yukon government.

Health and Social Services Minister Peter Jenkins has said the Thomson Centre will be used as a facility for psychiatric care. However, Morgan believes the government needs to consult with groups like the mental health association on the matter.

'The minister has a responsibility,' he said.

In an interview this morning, Crown prosecutor Kevin Drolet said the outcome from the case was 'perfectly appropriate'.

The question now becomes what will be done to ensure, in the future, that inmates with mental illness are treated in a way that both protects the public and is therapeutic for them, he said.

Drolet pointed out it may mean finding a better place within the confines of the jail or the hospital, which would also mean making changes to those facilities.

When it was pointed out Jenkins had noted the Thomson Centre would be used as a facility for people suffering from mental illness, Drolet replied, 'It's an interesting idea.'

He would not comment on which facility he thought would be best-suited. He again pointed out the law requires the public be protected from inmates who may be mentally ill and get therapeutic treatment as well.

Asked what impact the decision will have on future cases, he pointed to a case that came to territorial court on Thursday afternoon in Whitehorse. Visiting Judge Gail Maltby ordered a psychiatric assessment on the accused who was remanded to the jail.

Maltby gave a special direction that the accused not be kept in isolation and also noted he may be transferred to an Outside facility for assessment, Drolet said.