Dawn-Marie Wesley (May 5, 1986 – November 10, 2000) was a Canadian student who committed suicide after experiencing a cycle of bullying by

psychological torture Psychological torture or mental torture is a type of torture that relies primarily on psychological effects, and only secondarily on any physical harm inflicted. Although not all psychological torture involves the use of physical violence, there ...

and verbal threats from three female bullies at her high school. She left behind a note to her family that referred to the bullying to which she had been subjected: "If I try to get help, it will get worse. They are always looking for a new person to beat up and these are the toughest girls. If I ratted, they would get expelled from school and there would be no stopping them. I love you all so much." She hanged herself with a dog leash in her bedroom.

Incident

At the age of 14, Dawn-Marie Wesley hanged herself with a dog leash in her bedroom after experiencing a cycle of

and verbal

threats A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...

. She left a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depen ...

in which she said she was

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an im ...

by three female classmates. Wesley's body was discovered by her 13-year-old brother who had come to her room to call her to have dinner with the family.

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

found no crime had been committed, and some police officers were accused of a possible cover up, as one of the bullies accused was the daughter of an officer in the town. The incident garnered international media attention, which led to the groundbreaking investigation by Canada's Crown, and a precedent setting court case where for the first time in North American courts, teenage defendants were made to stand trial for bullying. Two of the teens pleaded guilty to Wesley's suicide, and the third was acquitted of all charges.

Legal proceedings

The historic, landmark and precedent setting court case was presided over by

Provincial Court The provincial and territorial courts in Canada are local trial "inferior" or "lower" courts of limited jurisdiction established in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. These courts typically hear criminal, civil (or “ small claims” ...

Judge

Jill Rounthwaite Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana (disambiguation), Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian (given name), Julian. People wit ...

. It was noted that one of the girl bullies named in the suicide note was the daughter of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer in Mission. Two girls were

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...

of uttering threats with the intent to instill fear, and criminal harassment. Their identities are protected because they were prosecuted under Canada's Young Offenders Act. B.C. Provincial Court Judge Jill Rounthwaite's ruling stated that it was clear that one of the accused had bullied Wesley repeatedly thus giving the victim reason to fear for her life. Rounthwaite also stated that bystanders added "to the

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

of the bully" by letting the harassment continue without intervention.

Documentary film

''Rats & Bullies'' is a feature

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

written, directed and produced by Roberta McMillan and Ray Buffer that investigated Wesley's suicide and offers solutions to teens, parents, teachers and school administrators on bullying. The film includes interviews with people involved in the tragedy and insight from educational experts. ''Rats & Bullies'' was filmed on location on Mission, British Columbia, Canada; Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada; Washington D.C.; and California (USA).

References

External links

Rats & Bullies is a documentary feature film written and directed by Cassidy R. McMillan and Ray Buffer (2011)

The Salt Lake Tribune

Bullies And Friends documentary by Cassidy McMillan details the precedent setting court case surrounding the death of Dawn Marie Wesley and offers solutions to bullying
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, Dawn-Marie 1986 births 2000 deaths Deaths by person in Canada Youth suicides Suicides in British Columbia Suicides by hanging in Canada Bullying and suicide 2000 in Canada November 2000 events in Canada 2000 suicides

Incident

Legal proceedings

Documentary film

References

Further reading

External links