Death of police officer Maureen Breau | A psychiatrist who has already followed Brouillard Lessard testifies at the coroner’s inquest

(Montreal) The psychiatrists who had already followed Isaac Brouillard Lessard before he killed a police officer in Louiseville, a year ago, testified Tuesday, during the coroner’s inquest, about the difficulties encountered in getting patients to follow the conditions of the provincial mental health board.

Brouillard Lessard, 35, fatally stabbed Sergeant Maureen Breau with a kitchen knife and seriously injured her colleague on March 27, 2023. Police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) were trying to arrest him for having uttered threats and violated his probation conditions.

Brouillard Lessard was shot and killed moments later by two other police colleagues.

Coroner Géhane Kamel’s investigation, which began Monday at the Trois-Rivières courthouse, aims to shed light on the circumstances surrounding these two deaths.

The inquest heard that Brouillard Lessard had a history of mental illness and that, despite concerns raised by his parents, he was alone and in crisis when M^me Breau and his colleagues attempted to arrest him for making threats and violating his probation.

Tuesday, the D^r Marc Tannous, who supervised Brouillard Lessard starting in 2019, testified about an event in November 2021, when the man’s mother told him she feared her son was having a psychotic relapse and suspected he was not taking his medication. The D^r Tannous said he spoke to Brouillard Lessard by phone and determined the man did not pose an imminent threat.

“Concerns, fears are not facts or elements that can be used before a judge of the Court of Quebec to justify the hospitalization of a person against their will due to a serious, real or immediate danger” , declared the doctor, repeating several times that Brouillard Lessard’s behavior did not meet the criteria required to take care of him.

But a few days after the doctor made this decision, Brouillard Lessard attacked the janitor of his building and broke his jaw.

The investigation revealed that Brouillard Lessard had not taken his medication for almost a year before attacking the concierge and that he was using cannabis, which aggravated his mental health problems.

Schizoaffective disorders

The D^r Tannous testified that Brouillard Lessard suffered from schizoaffective disorder, a mental health problem that includes symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorders like obsession or depression.

His testimony led coroner Géhane Kamel to affirm that, for a second consecutive day, the investigation revealed that Brouillard Lessard’s parents had raised concerns which were not heard by the authorities.

On Monday, a member of the Independent Investigations Bureau testified that provincial police officers visited Brouillard Lessard three days before he killed Breau, after his parents expressed concerns about his deteriorating mental state. . The police decided they had no reason to arrest him.

Psychiatrist Marie-Frédérique Allard, for her part, testified Tuesday that Brouillard Lessard had attacked her twice in 2018. She said she had filed a complaint, adding that she had never been attacked before by a patient. The D^D Allard, who suffered minor injuries, recalled that Brouillard Lessard could be calm and then suddenly explode with anger.

M^me Kamel asked him what is the point of the Quebec Mental Disorders Examination Commission imposing conditions on patients if they are not respected, in reference to the fact that Brouillard Lessard consumed cannabis and did not take the medication that he were prescribed.

It’s common for mentally ill patients to disregard conditions imposed by the board, Dr.^D Allard, adding that there was not much that could be done about it.

“It’s very problematic… I have a lot of patients who don’t respect their conditions, but who are not necessarily dangerous. Apart from telling the administrative court that the patient was using illicit drugs, there is nothing else I can do,” she admitted.

She explained that psychiatrists are often placed in a position where they are forced to act like probation officers, to make decisions about what to do when a patient violates the conditions of their release from prison. ‘hospital.

In addition to calling the court, Marie-Frédérique Allard said, doctors can contact the province’s prosecution service and ask that a patient be charged, but she said that has happened once or twice during his 24-year career.

The D^r David Olivier, another psychiatrist who treated Brouillard Lessard, pointed out that the vast majority of patients do not respect the conditions imposed by the mental health board.

“I think there is an ambiguity, a lot of psychiatrists I know are stuck with that,” said Dr.^r Olivier. We know the patient is not complying with his conditions and at the next hearing he is told to respect the conditions. »

He added that there were “no consequences” for violating the rules, other than not being granted an absolute discharge.