"Hamber said that in 2018, the boy, known as L.L. for this trial, called her a stupid b-word and pushed her down a flight of stairs. She said she landed on her feet, but hurt her leg. That day, Hamber said, Cooney took the boy who was also expressing suicidal desires to a nearby hospital, where he was admitted for several days."
"In October, Dr. Alan Brown, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, testified L.L. likely had disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reactive attachment disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He said that he and his team never observed the sort of explosive outbursts that Hamber and Cooney described, but acknowledged children can present differently at home than in care."
Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney reported struggling to get the boy the help they believed he needed after he and his younger brother moved in. The couple said they did not know the boy had serious behavioural issues beforehand and that the older child could suddenly become violent. Children's Aid Society responses were described as not always helpful. In 2018 the boy called Hamber a "stupid b-word," pushed her down a flight of stairs and was later admitted to hospital after expressing suicidal desires. No strategies were provided to the couple to handle tantrums. Psychiatrist Dr. Alan Brown listed likely diagnoses including disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, PTSD, reactive attachment disorder and ADHD, and noted hospital observations did not show the explosive outbursts described at home. The boy, identified as L.L., was 12 and died in 2022. Cooney and Hamber have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges, including confinement and assault with a weapon involving zip ties.
Read at www.cbc.ca
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]