Editor’s Note: SiRT announced yesterday that a CBRPS officer who stole a wall-hanging from a home in Glace Bay last year will get off with a restorative justice-flavoured tap on the wrist. Readers will recall that Frank had the story months ago:
Is the Cape Breton Regional Police Service the sleaziest cop shop in Nova Scotia?
Before we reveal the name of the latest inductee into the C.B. Police Hall of Shame, let’s revisit a few past gems:
We can hardly blame Wilson for defending her pre-teen son at a rink in North Sydney in February 2023. But following the ref to the parking lot afterward to threaten him?
When the video surfaced, Wilson and her colleague, Sgt. Allan Shaw — who’d tried to bury it — were suspended with pay for a year, until SiRT closed the file with a restorative-justice–style tap on the wrist.
Suspended with pay and charged in 2023 with assault causing bodily harm against his girlfriend, Rebecca Benvie, MacDonald didn’t do himself any favours at trial. The judge didn’t believe a word he uttered on the stand.
“[S]cripted… completely absurd… concocted to deflect blame… not true and extremely troubling,” wrote Judge Dan MacRury in his January 2025 decision.
But MacRury didn’t buy much of Benvie’s testimony either. Verdict: Not guilty. MacDonald returned to work.
Picture it: a driveway in Membertou, July 2024. Four C.B. cops struggle to get local bad boy Francis Axworthy under control when Bussey steps in, boots him, and follows up with three punches.
Video of the incident soon became a hot commodity on the Cape Breton Rant Room.
Which brings us to Shane Oldford, our newest honouree, courtesy of a CBRPS drug squad search warrant in September.
According to the paperwork filed with the courts, officers cleared the scene at 3 Cadegan Drive, Glace Bay, and reported that nothing had been seized. At least, so they said.
Unofficially? Oldford allegedly helped himself to a souvenir (a novelty sign that hung on the wall).
And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those damn digital spy cameras that everyone has hidden everywhere nowadays!
And the three officers with him on the field trip witnessed the whole thing, as evidenced by:
-their guffaws and gentle ribbing about Oldford’s taste in décor — also captured on camera;
-Oldford casually carrying it out of the apartment like he owned the joint.
So where does that leave us?
Sources tell Frank that Oldford has been pulled off the beat and placed on administrative duties, but for his colleagues it’s business as usual.
Halifax police have been called in to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted. And in a real full-circle moment, Jodie Wilson, Hockey Mom Of the Year™ is handling the internal investigation.
Ms. Benvie appears to be the victim of a form of female lip mutilation known as the Russian Lip Technique, sadly still practiced in primitive cultures.