Beating by senior Canadian military officer triggered peacekeeper’s PTSD:inquest

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – A coroner’s inquest has heard that an assault by a superior officer in the Canadian military was a major trigger of the post-traumatic stress disorder affecting a former peacekeeper who ended up being shot by RCMP.

Greg Matters’ psychiatrist Dr. Greg Passey is testifying today.

Passey says Matters was beaten and filed a complaint but he was the one charged because he believed the other officer was of higher rank.

That perceived injustice and what he viewed as ongoing harassment from RCMP in Prince George, as well as his experiences in Bosnia, caused chronic PTSD and major depression.

Passey says Matters was suicidal at times but he was not suicidal when he was shot by police and was on his way to recovery.

Passey says Matters made threats toward authority figures as part of his symptoms but he did not have a violent history.