Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Province apologizes for timing of announcement on Li
More guards, but no fence for Li's walks on grounds of mental-health centre
Vince Li, who beheaded 22-year-old Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus less than two years ago today, is ready to leave his locked ward for supervised outings, his doctor told a review board earlier this year. (FILE PHOTO)
Tim McLean (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
The province apologized this morning for releasing, on the anniversary of Tim McLean's death, information on new security measures that will allow his killer, Vince Li, to walk the grounds of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre.
"If the timing of this information has caused one ounce additional pain to the McLean family, I certainly want to offer my profound regret for that," Health Minister Theresa Oswald told reporters this morning. She said the timing of the announcement was inadvertent.
"This is a family that has endured pain (that), thankfully, very few of us will ever know and no family should ever know," Oswald said. "And so if more information about the development of Mr. Li’s treatment on this day, or any day, hurts that family further, I think we should all feel regret for that. And certainly I do."
Li was found not criminally responsible last year for the July 30, 2008 beheading of 22-year-old McLean on a Greyhound bus near Portage la Prairie. He admitted responsibility for the attack, but a judge found him to be suffering from hallucinations and untreated schizophrenia at the time, which left him unable to appreciate or control his actions.
His doctors have said Li has made tremendous progress in the past two years at the centre, and two months ago the Criminal Code Review Board ruled that Li could begin taking two brief supervised outdoor passes a day.
A public uproar ensued and the province announced that Li wouldn’t be allowed to leave the centre’s secure forensic unit additional security precautions were in place
Friday, the province issued a press release describing the new measures, adding that it would take an additional two months before they would be in force and Li would begin his strolls.
The new plan does not include the construction of a fence around the grounds that some in the community had called for.
Two more full-time security officers have been hired and will be dedicated to escorting forensic patients, including Li, when required under disposition orders. A clinical staff member will also escort patients in such cases.
The walks will be restricted to periods when staff numbers are at their peak.
All risks will be assessed by the treatment team before Li — or any other patient requiring such security measures — is given a pass to walk the grounds.
The Selkirk centre says it has shared its security plans with the RCMP and will advise the Mounties when the walks begin.
History
Updated on Friday, July 30, 2010 at 12:00 PM CDT:
Tweaks headline, adds information.
Updated on Friday, July 30, 2010 at 12:34 PM CDT:
new headline and story updated with apology from province
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