Email

Print

But, while that is the happy ending tonight, just after midday today, Buckley was experiencing hardship trying to collect on that partial payment he was promised earlier this week.

7News caught up with him at his home at midday, when he intended to go check to see if any money was in his account, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Daniel Ortiz Reporting

Steven Buckley and his attorneys trusted the words of the representatives from Government in that Meeting on Monday at the Raccoon Street Police Headquarters.

FILE: August 5, 2013

Dickie Bradley - Attorney for Steven Buckley
"The arrangement is that an undertaken has been given to us from lawyer to lawyer - the solicitor general has said that before this week is over - he was hoping to be able to have brought a check from the Ministry of Finance - but you know there's a procedure to get out very large sums of money out of the Ministry of Finance. Before this week is over he will make contact and there will be a substantial part payment towards the final amount that is owed to Mr. Buckley."

Figuring that these difficulties his attorney described would get in the way, Buckley waited until today to check if he received that partial payment. After all, they did promise that by Friday, it would be there, and after all he and his family have been through, it is expected that he deserves a swing in luck.

Steven Buckley – Expecting Financial Compensation
"Right now I will go and check and see if it's in my account."

Reporter
"When did they tell you at the meeting when you went there with Dickie, they told you that they would give you the money or did they give you any details?"

Steven Buckley
"They told me that by Friday it should be there."

Reporter
"They gave you an amount or exactly how much you should expect, did you agree on any amount?"

Steven Buckley
"They didn't tell me how much they would give me; they just told me that it would be in my account."

So, he immediately left his house, and he went to his credit union to see if that money arrived yet.

30 minutes later, he exited dejected; the money wasn't there.

Steven Buckley
"A man hailed me and took me in a room at the back and checked into the account and told me that nothing was in my account as yet."

Reporter
"What is the next move for you?"

Steven Buckley
"Well I want to go and try and see if I see my lawyer so that he deals with it for me and see what's going on."

He'll check what's happening with the money, but what happened over 3 years ago is that he was mistakenly shot by a police officer, undeserved, and unexpected. It has taken this long for him to get the point where they're accepting blame for maiming him.

FILE: August 5, 2013

Dickey Bradley
"The situation is basically that the government is saying to us that we need not go and establish that the police department or agents of the police department, who under law, are responsible for the injuries inflicted on Mr. Buckley - they accept that that has happened."

And so, he needs this money urgently.

Daniel Ortiz "How difficult is it knowing that you have struggled for three years with this injury, your family is also there with you struggling - they've promised you this money after such a long span and today is Friday and that money is still not there."

Steven Buckley "Very hard to me because as what I've said, I need help, and it's not coming to me, I have to struggle to get it."