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Court of Appeal overturns Justice Lawrence O’Neil’s ruling giving custody of a child to man with a history of domestic abuse

Lawrence O'Neil, the Associate Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Family Court, awarded custody of a small child to a father with a history of domestic assault, downplayed another allegation of domestic assault against the father, implied that the mother was lying, and accused the police of misleading the court. O'Neil also ordered the arrest of the mother. Today, the Court of Appeal overturns the custody ruling and quashes the arrest warrant.

June 12, 2018 By Tim Bousquet Leave a Comment

In November 2017, the Halifax Examiner reported that: In August [2017], Lawrence O’Neil, the Associate Chief Justice of the Family Court, awarded custody of a five-year-old boy to the child’s father, who has a history of domestic violence, even though the father had previously signed away his right to custody. After the Examiner wrote about […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: custody, domestic assault, Huffington Post, Justice David P.S. Farrar, Justice Lawrence O'Neil, Man with history of domestic assault awarded custody, miscarriage of justice, Zi-Ann Lum

Man with history of domestic assault awarded custody of five-year-old boy

Justice Lawrence O'Neil has had a long and controversial career, first as an MP railing against women's right to abortion, then as a judge overly protective of the rights of fathers. Now, the Associate Chief Justice has awarded custody of a small child to a father with a history of domestic assault, downplayed another allegation of domestic assault against the father, implied that the mother was lying, and accused the police of misleading the court.

November 3, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 4 Comments

In August, Lawrence O’Neil, the Associate Chief Justice of the Family Court, awarded custody of a five-year-old boy to the child’s father, who has a history of domestic violence, even though the father had previously signed away his right to custody. A troubled relationship The names of the parents and child in this story are […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: Constable Ian Nielsen, Constable Mandru, Halifax Regional Police, Justice Cindy Bourgeois, Justice Lawrence O'Neil, Justice Sers, Legal Aid lawyer Linda Tippett Leary, Lieutenant Benoit Vigneault, Man with history of domestic assault awarded custody, Melissa Grant, witness protection program

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Keonté Beals. Photo: Keke Beatz

Episode #21 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

The young R&B artist Keonté Beals — Tara’s former NSCC student, by the way — started out singing in church in North Preston and performing popular covers before digging into who he is an artist. On his debut album KING, he sings about love, loyalty, and authenticity. He zooms in for a chat about its creation, his children’s book, and how not even a pandemic can keep him down.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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