PORT HAWKESBURY: Rather than immediately being connected by Veterans Affairs with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist in Nova Scotia after his release from Ste. Anne’s Hospital, retired Cpl. Lionel Desmond searched for help on his own.
PORT HAWKESBURY: A social worker at the Ste. Anne’s Hospital was worried about something that stood in the way of retired Cpl. Lionel Desmond’s treatment as he was making minor progress under treatments that usually produced results.
PORT HAWKESBURY: Lionel Desmond’s Veterans Affairs-appointed case manager became frustrated, and says the interruption she faced in the retried corporal’s rehabilitation was caused by “significant bureaucratic barriers,” resulting in a four month delay in receiving any clinical...
PORT HAWKESBURY: The Nova Scotia Judiciary say they expect Judge Warren Zimmer’s final report and recommendations from the Desmond Fatality Inquiry to be filed with the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia “sometime next year.”
PORT HAWKESBURY: The officer who reviewed Cpl. Lionel Desmond’s firearm licence testified on March 23, had he been made aware of his run-ins with the police and struggles with his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), he may have...
GUYSBOROUGH: Nova Scotia’s chief firearms
office doesn’t have the authority to ask for an additional medical opinion
after reinstating a firearms licence, unless the applicant gets flagged by the
RCMP, a doctor, or a citizen from the community.
PORT HAWKESBURY: One year after retired Cpl. Lionel Desmond was medically discharged from the military for severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the former infantryman was then diagnosed with “mixed personality traits.”
The new evidence...
PORT HAWKESBURY: To allow Judge Warren Zimmer to continue his work, the conclusion of the Desmond Fatality Inquiry has been extended.
The Desmond Fatality Inquiry, which saw testimony from 69 witnesses over 53 days,...
PORT HAWKESBURY: The Canadian Armed Forces arranged for retired Cpl. Lionel Desmond’s treatment to continue following his medical discharge in 2015.
However a psychologist says the “lack of structure” outside the military presented additional...
GUYSBOROUGH: The chief firearms officer who approved
Cpl. Lionel Desmond’s firearms possession and acquisition licence renewal
testified on February 20 she would have rejected the soldier’s application if
she had been more aware of his severe mental illness.