Category: Sydney

Charges Dismissed

A Glace Bay man is free on armed robbery charges.

The Crown requested an adjournment is the trial of 39 year old Thomas Gerard Rogers who was charged with holding up a Glace Bay deli last March. The Crown said it needed more time to get DNA analysis. Rogers’ lawyer objected saying the Crown and police had had lots of time and that his client had been in custody for 159 days. The judge dismissed the charges.

But Rogers is still facing other charges, including theft, mischief and breaching a court order in an unrelated matter….so while free on conditions he’s isn’t clear yet.

Suicides

A therapist is questioning the availability of treatment services following an apparent rise in the number of suicides in Cape Breton.

Todd Vassallo, a psychotherapist in Sydney, says there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of suicides from 2014 to 2015.

He says data from the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner’s office indicates that suicide deaths in Cape Breton rose from 14 in 2014 to 24 in 2015.

Vassallo blames the increase on the area’s high rates of poverty and drug use, as well as a lack of access for services and high wait times.