A big surprise in court this morning.
All 9 charges of sexual assault against a Saint John City doctor have been withdrawn.
At a court appearance this morning all 9 charges were withdrawn but a reason has not been given.
8 of the 9 charges against Dr. Alan Cockeram were laid back in February.
Defence
lawyer Brian Munro got into a heated exchange with the judge over the
reason the charges were withdrawn, which was not revealed.
Munro says his client's name has been dragged through the mud for 14 months.
Provincial
Green Party leader David Coon isn't buying assurances from Premier
David Alward about provincial regulations being strong enough to protect
the environment when it comes to shale gas testing.
Coon says the regulations are more like conditions that can be negotiated away.
He can't believe SWN Resources got a blanket exemption to carry out seismic testing for shale gas in provincial wetlands.
Correctional
Officers at the Atlantic Institution have nabbed a visitor trying to
bring drugs into the maximum-security federal penitentiary.
The officers seized 25 g of Hydromorphone beads as well as Dilaudid, worth nearly $30,000 inside.
The
visitor was arrested by the police and may face criminal charges. From
April 12 to July 08, 2013 staff at the Institution have had a total of 7
drug seizures valued at over $65,000 and resulting in four visitor
arrests.
The jail uses tools like ion scanners and drug dogs to search buildings, offenders and visitors.
