Mountie in Dziekanski case settles negligence lawsuit against RCMP

One of the Mounties dispatched to what would be a fatal confrontation with a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport has settled his lawsuit against the RCMP.

Const. Bill Bentley sued the Attorney General of Canada and the B.C. justice minister for negligence on June 10, 2016. Sources confirm a settlement was reached on Friday.

"I am relieved that I can now move on with my life after 12 years of devastation," Bentley said in an email to CBC News the following Wednesday.

Bentley was one of four RCMP officers who responded after witnesses reported an agitated man behaving erratically in the arrivals lounge of the airport on Oct. 14, 2007. Officers located the man, Robert Dziekanski, who died after being confronted by the officers and Tasered multiple times.

In his lawsuit, Bentley said he was made a "scapegoat" as the force dealt with intense public backlash after Dziekanski's death, and was forbidden from publicly defending himself to "wrongful allegations" about what had happened.

As a result of the RCMP's negligence, the claim said, Bentley "suffered permanent and irreparable harm including extreme embarrassment, loss of reputation, extreme stress resulting in disabling psychological and physical injury, personal expense and financial loss, and he will continue so to suffer."

All four responding officers were charged with perjury following a subsequent public inquiry into Dziekanski's death, over testimony commissioner Thomas Braidwood called "patently unbelievable."

Former constable Kwesi Millington and former corporal Monty Robinson were convicted. Bentley and Const. Gerry Rundel were acquitted.

Prosecutors' attempts to overturn Bentley's acquittal were tossed out by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Chronic PTSD, major depression

Bentley, who is still a member of the RCMP, was diagnosed with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder in June 2010, nearly three years after Dziekanski died.

The lawsuit said the RCMP's handling of the case, including the perjury charge, had serious impacts on the officer's mental health. He said he got one call from the RCMP commissioner shortly after the incident but claimed support of the force was nonexistent after that.

Bentley's notice of claim said the RCMP mismanaged information about the case and what happened, fuelling public perception of the officers' wrongdoing.

The lawsuit also said an RCMP psychologist acted in a "rude and unprofessional manner" throughout his treatment as Bentley tried to work toward a return to his career.

The psychologist, according to the lawsuit, told Bentley he wouldn't give him documentation he needed to get back to his job if the Bentley did not "own his actions" from the night of Dziekanski's death.

Bentley said the force's actions in months after the incident "effectively destroyed" his career.

Millington and Rundel have filed similar lawsuits against the RCMP. Their cases are ongoing.

Dziekanski was moving to Canada to live with his mother in Kamloops, B.C., when he died. He grew agitated after spending eight hours in customs after his flight landed in Vancouver, unable to find his way out of the airport.