Doctor didn’t do rigorous check of emaciated boy days before death, Ont. trial for 2 prospective parents told

WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.

A 12-year-old boy who was severely malnourished and underweight was seen by his family doctor for an annual checkup eight days before he died while in the care of two Burlington, Ont., women. 

Dr. Graeme (Stephen) Duncan testified on Monday and Tuesday at the trial for Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney, who have pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of the boy the couple had been trying to adopt.

At the time of the appointment, on Dec. 13, 2022, the boy, known as L.L. as his identity is protected by a publication ban, had lost about 10 pounds in one year, weighed less than he did when he was six years old and had stopped growing.

“He was quite interactive and normal in terms of responding to me verbally, politely,” Duncan told the judge-alone trial in Milton Superior Court. “But the physical exam was remarkable mostly because of his weight loss.” 

The family physician, who practises in Halton region and has 2,200 patients, said Hamber and Cooney had claimed L.L. had an eating disorder and was throwing up every day. Duncan had already sent a referral to an eating disorder clinic and was waiting for a response.

Based on scans and tests sent to Duncan before the appointment, he would have known L.L. “was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off,” and could have “dropped” at any point with a cardiac occurrence that could’ve led to his death,” Monte McGregor, Hamber’s lawyer, said during cross-examination.

L.L. had actually shrunk since his appointment with Duncan the year before, McGregor said. 

Duncan admitted that during the checkup, he didn’t ask L.L. about his eating, examine him with his clothes off or take his blood pressure while he was lying down and standing up —  all recommended by the Canadian Paediatric Society to determine the physical impacts of a patient’s malnutrition.

Duncan also didn’t call an ambulance, even though L.L.’s weight suggested he was severely malnourished, or recommend that Hamber and Cooney take L.L. to the emergency department, the doctor confirmed during testimony. 

On Dec. 21, 2022, L.L. was found emaciated, soaking wet and unresponsive in the basement of Hamber’s and Cooney’s house. He was rushed to hospital and died soon after. 

A pathologist previously told the court he was not able to determine L.L.’s cause of death, but couldn’t rule out hypothermia or cardiac arrest linked to severe malnourishment.

Hamber and Cooney were also in the process of adopting L.L.’s younger brother, J.L., whose identity is also protected under a publication ban. 

The two Indigenous boys were moved from a foster home in Ottawa to the women’s home in 2017. They remained wards of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) of Ottawa, as the adoption was never finalized before L.L. died. The Halton CAS was in charge of supervising their day-to-day care.