POLICE HELP THIEF IN MONTREAL
MY 92 YEAR-OLD MOTHER IS MISSING !
IN QUEBEC, "THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM."
It started in October 1996, when I was attacked and robbed in my parents' home where I had been living for two years while recovering from breast cancer. Suddenly at the beginning of October, my teenage niece Dawn McSweeney and her boyfriend Alex moved in with us. Within a week of their arrival, my mother suddenly attacked me without any apparent reason and without any warning. In shock, I called 911 for help to escape the violence. I would not lift a finger to defend myself against my aged mother
who has a lifelong history of mental problems - (as does Dawn's father. I have given the
Montreal Police the names of both psychiatrists).
MONTREAL POLICE HELPED THE THIEF
One of the two officers who responded to my distress call 'helped' me out the door
without as much as a coat. In front of my assailant, the officer told me that I must never return. This police officer's unilateral decision to evict me, forbidding me to return home,gave all my most precious belongings, as well as my aged parents' lives and property into the hands of my teenage niece. This action was taken without any investigation. There
was no legal procedure. No hearing. No court procedure. No trial. No judgement. No background to support such an action. No justification. The officer just decided to do it. And then - he did not file a report.
Widowed, unemployed and fighting cancer, the police abandoned me in the street alone,
cold, homeless and destitute. My entire life was locked up behind me, in Dawn's hands. I
pleaded with the police at the local station to file a report, to go to the house and see for
themselves. They refused again and again, saying, "Your mother ask you to be patient
and everything will be return to you." For six months, the Montreal Police refused
repeatedly to file a report of these events. At 60, I had to start life again - from scratch.
Quebec's Police Ethics Commissioner wrote me: "The police have large powers and vast
authority.... The case is definitively closed". Large powers - to help criminals ? Vast
authority - to rob widows ? Montreal Police Archives just ignored my requests for a
report. To obtain a police report, you must have a lawyer. But I can't afford a lawyer.
But you can get a consultation with a lawyer for $35.00 to $50.00. The Bar Association
gives you the name of a lawyer who tells you that your case is not important enough for
him to waste his time. Your money has already slipped into his right-hand pants pocket.
You ask your MNA for help. He tells you that the Police Ethics Commissioner has the last word and that's that - unless you have a lawyer.
You appeal to the Premiere of Quebec. Jean Charest writes to say that the theft of all your jewellery and the fruit of your life's work and the personal treasures your husband left to you, is a "civil matter of an unfortunate nature." Grand larceny is a civil matter ? I think it is a crime. About three years ago, a family member let slip that $2000.00 in cash had been stolen from my
parents in 1996.
That's when it all came together: That's why she attacked me. Because I had become a
Christian, my mother believes that I gave her money to the Anglican Church. She refuses
to believe that Dawn stole it. "That would be too terrible to believe", she told me.
NOW MY 92 YEAR-OLD MOTHER IS MISSING !
The family was torn apart. My father died in 2000 without knowing the truth about what
happened. April 2004: I went to see the police again because Dawn's mother, my sister
Debbie, has moved our mother out of our family home and no one knows where she is. Debbie, obtained power of attorney from both my parents, and every other member of the
family, the CLSC social services, fire protection services and even police detectives, were barred from my parents' home thereafter. Now my mother is missing. The home of our
youth looks like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, doors and windows over
grown with dead vines. So I went to the police station to file a missing person report.
To acquaint the young officer with the background of the case, I showed him pictures of the dinner ring my grandmother gave me and my designer ring - both of which Dawn stole. The officer asked if I have proof that I own those rings. Yes, I gave the police copies of the certificate, the appraisal, insurance papers, receipts and photos, and the note
from my grandmother in March, 1997 when the police finally agreed to write a report of the theft. And yes, I have the originals and there are many copies.
He said, "The papers prove these (rings) are yours: That's theft."
"Yes," I said, "That's what I've been telling the police all these years."
The officer advised me to go to Montreal Police Archives and ask for copies of the police reports. "BUT TO DO THAT, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LAWYER."
I'm a pensioner. I can't afford a lawyer. But I am not eligible for legal aid.
The officer could not file a missing person report - because Debbie told him that she
knows where mother is. To see your mother or to get information about where or how she is, you have to file a civil suit. "BUT YOU WILL NEED A LAWYER."
Still, that would take months ! Can't the police check on my mother now ? Sorry.
To sue Dawn for the theft, "You must file a CIVIL suit. BUT YOU NEED A LAWYER." But surely it's a CRIME to steal jewellery and money ! In any case, I don't want compensation. I want only what is mine. The officer is really sorry.
My father, George Rubin, was president of Metropolitan News in Montreal, for 37 years.
He was a very honest and conscientious man. After all those years of hard work and
devotion to the family business, he resigned and left his position and his job empty-
handed, without pensions or benefits - on a matter of principle. But when I was attacked
and robbed, he was too frail and ill to defend me, too intimidated to oppose Dawn McSweeney who had taken over the family home by deceiving my mother. My father was worn out. He didn't know who was telling the truth and he didn't want to have to choose between me and Dawn. So he obeyed my mother, as he always had, and they both signed over everything to Dawn's mother, Debbie. In the end, Dawn McSweeney and her
entourage stole everything of value that belonged to me and everything that belonged to
my parents and my siblings. No family member has been allowed to see my mother since the robbery. We don't know where she is or what her condition is. And no one will do a thing about it - except me.
I will never give up, but I am 68 years old and it is so hard to fight all alone. I am looking
for a champion. Are you another whose "hands are tied", or are you, at last, that one
special person who cares enough about justice to help me?
None of this could have happened without the wrongful actions of the Montreal Police.
IF YOU ARE A CRIMINAL,
QUEBEC WILL PROVIDE A LAWYER.
IF YOU ARE A CRIME VICTIM,
THERE IS NO HELP.
IF YOUR MOTHER IS MISSING,
"THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM."
That is "Justice - Quebec Style".
I am living it. AND FIGHTING IT.
I wish you were too.
Phyllis Carter
carter3751@aol.com
IN QUEBEC, "THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM."
It started in October 1996, when I was attacked and robbed in my parents' home where I had been living for two years while recovering from breast cancer. Suddenly at the beginning of October, my teenage niece Dawn McSweeney and her boyfriend Alex moved in with us. Within a week of their arrival, my mother suddenly attacked me without any apparent reason and without any warning. In shock, I called 911 for help to escape the violence. I would not lift a finger to defend myself against my aged mother
who has a lifelong history of mental problems - (as does Dawn's father. I have given the
Montreal Police the names of both psychiatrists).
MONTREAL POLICE HELPED THE THIEF
One of the two officers who responded to my distress call 'helped' me out the door
without as much as a coat. In front of my assailant, the officer told me that I must never return. This police officer's unilateral decision to evict me, forbidding me to return home,gave all my most precious belongings, as well as my aged parents' lives and property into the hands of my teenage niece. This action was taken without any investigation. There
was no legal procedure. No hearing. No court procedure. No trial. No judgement. No background to support such an action. No justification. The officer just decided to do it. And then - he did not file a report.
Widowed, unemployed and fighting cancer, the police abandoned me in the street alone,
cold, homeless and destitute. My entire life was locked up behind me, in Dawn's hands. I
pleaded with the police at the local station to file a report, to go to the house and see for
themselves. They refused again and again, saying, "Your mother ask you to be patient
and everything will be return to you." For six months, the Montreal Police refused
repeatedly to file a report of these events. At 60, I had to start life again - from scratch.
Quebec's Police Ethics Commissioner wrote me: "The police have large powers and vast
authority.... The case is definitively closed". Large powers - to help criminals ? Vast
authority - to rob widows ? Montreal Police Archives just ignored my requests for a
report. To obtain a police report, you must have a lawyer. But I can't afford a lawyer.
But you can get a consultation with a lawyer for $35.00 to $50.00. The Bar Association
gives you the name of a lawyer who tells you that your case is not important enough for
him to waste his time. Your money has already slipped into his right-hand pants pocket.
You ask your MNA for help. He tells you that the Police Ethics Commissioner has the last word and that's that - unless you have a lawyer.
You appeal to the Premiere of Quebec. Jean Charest writes to say that the theft of all your jewellery and the fruit of your life's work and the personal treasures your husband left to you, is a "civil matter of an unfortunate nature." Grand larceny is a civil matter ? I think it is a crime. About three years ago, a family member let slip that $2000.00 in cash had been stolen from my
parents in 1996.
That's when it all came together: That's why she attacked me. Because I had become a
Christian, my mother believes that I gave her money to the Anglican Church. She refuses
to believe that Dawn stole it. "That would be too terrible to believe", she told me.
NOW MY 92 YEAR-OLD MOTHER IS MISSING !
The family was torn apart. My father died in 2000 without knowing the truth about what
happened. April 2004: I went to see the police again because Dawn's mother, my sister
Debbie, has moved our mother out of our family home and no one knows where she is. Debbie, obtained power of attorney from both my parents, and every other member of the
family, the CLSC social services, fire protection services and even police detectives, were barred from my parents' home thereafter. Now my mother is missing. The home of our
youth looks like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, doors and windows over
grown with dead vines. So I went to the police station to file a missing person report.
To acquaint the young officer with the background of the case, I showed him pictures of the dinner ring my grandmother gave me and my designer ring - both of which Dawn stole. The officer asked if I have proof that I own those rings. Yes, I gave the police copies of the certificate, the appraisal, insurance papers, receipts and photos, and the note
from my grandmother in March, 1997 when the police finally agreed to write a report of the theft. And yes, I have the originals and there are many copies.
He said, "The papers prove these (rings) are yours: That's theft."
"Yes," I said, "That's what I've been telling the police all these years."
The officer advised me to go to Montreal Police Archives and ask for copies of the police reports. "BUT TO DO THAT, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LAWYER."
I'm a pensioner. I can't afford a lawyer. But I am not eligible for legal aid.
The officer could not file a missing person report - because Debbie told him that she
knows where mother is. To see your mother or to get information about where or how she is, you have to file a civil suit. "BUT YOU WILL NEED A LAWYER."
Still, that would take months ! Can't the police check on my mother now ? Sorry.
To sue Dawn for the theft, "You must file a CIVIL suit. BUT YOU NEED A LAWYER." But surely it's a CRIME to steal jewellery and money ! In any case, I don't want compensation. I want only what is mine. The officer is really sorry.
My father, George Rubin, was president of Metropolitan News in Montreal, for 37 years.
He was a very honest and conscientious man. After all those years of hard work and
devotion to the family business, he resigned and left his position and his job empty-
handed, without pensions or benefits - on a matter of principle. But when I was attacked
and robbed, he was too frail and ill to defend me, too intimidated to oppose Dawn McSweeney who had taken over the family home by deceiving my mother. My father was worn out. He didn't know who was telling the truth and he didn't want to have to choose between me and Dawn. So he obeyed my mother, as he always had, and they both signed over everything to Dawn's mother, Debbie. In the end, Dawn McSweeney and her
entourage stole everything of value that belonged to me and everything that belonged to
my parents and my siblings. No family member has been allowed to see my mother since the robbery. We don't know where she is or what her condition is. And no one will do a thing about it - except me.
I will never give up, but I am 68 years old and it is so hard to fight all alone. I am looking
for a champion. Are you another whose "hands are tied", or are you, at last, that one
special person who cares enough about justice to help me?
None of this could have happened without the wrongful actions of the Montreal Police.
IF YOU ARE A CRIMINAL,
QUEBEC WILL PROVIDE A LAWYER.
IF YOU ARE A CRIME VICTIM,
THERE IS NO HELP.
IF YOUR MOTHER IS MISSING,
"THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM."
That is "Justice - Quebec Style".
I am living it. AND FIGHTING IT.
I wish you were too.
Phyllis Carter
carter3751@aol.com
posted by Phyllis Carter at 7:31 PM
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