PTSD On Trial: Canadian soldier sent for help instead of jail

Manitoba soldier sentenced on drug, weapons charges
Ian Hitchen , Brandon Sun
Published: Thursday, January 08, 2009
BRANDON, Man. - A judge has ruled it was post-traumatic stress disorder that led to a drunken incident last year in which a former Canadian soldier and his friend were shot while practising combat techniques with a loaded gun.


Judge Krystyna Tarwid this week urged Jeffrey Robbie Barwise to get psychological help for the trauma he suffered in Afghanistan.

"Both for your sake and the public's, because we want to feel safe with our soldiers back home," the Brandon provincial court judge said in a ruling Tuesday.


Barwise, 28, who was based at Canadian Forces Base Shilo in Manitoba pleaded guilty to drug possession and weapons charges for the May 30 incident.


The Crown stayed charges of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm because it couldn't be proven, given that Barwise and his friend refused to co-operate with police.


Emergency personnel were called to a CFB Shilo residence late in the evening on May 30.

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