Assault by a Person in Authority (Sentencing Cases)

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2024. (Rev. # 92994)

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Assault by persons in authority

Case Name	Prv.	Crt.	Sentence	Summary
2023
R v Browning, 2023 BCPC 202 (CanLII), per Dickey J	BC	PC	Conditional Discharge	Find summaries of case.
2021
R v Lindsay, 2021 ABQB 839 (CanLII), per Lema J	AB	SC	90 days imprisonment with 1 year probation	"the offender was a police officer who used excessive force in apprehending an unruly arrestee. He caused the victim significant head injuries. He was found guilty and sentenced to 90 days intermittent and probation. He had no criminal record and he lost his job." [1] Find summaries of case.
R v Partington, 2021 ABPC 301 (CanLII), per Ayotte J	AB	PC	$2,000 fine	Single blow to the complainant with no harm done. Crown sought 60-90 days. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
R v Osborne, 2021 ONCJ 707 (CanLII), per Amarshi J	ON	PC	Suspended Sentence	The offender plead guilty to common assault. Find summaries of case.
2020
R v O'Mara, 2020 ABPC 201 (CanLII)	AB	PC	Suspended Sentence	"[I]n the course of making an arrest of the complainant... for the provincial offences of trespass and being intoxicated in a public place, the accused delivered two hard punches to the head of the complainant as he lay prone on the ground." The judge said it was "considering a sentence of imprisonment". Crown sought suspended sentence to discharge. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
2019
R v Sevigny, 2019 ABPC 81 (CanLII), per DePoe J	AB	PC	$1,500 fine, probation of 12 months, and 50 hours of community service	"transit peace officer used a harsh take-down maneuver, with no justification, against a jaywalking citizen, who suffered relatively minor injuries"... "[The complainant] was facing away from the accused [transit officer] when this maneuver was undertaken and offered no physical resistance. It appeared from the evidence that it took him by surprise. He did not break his fall in any manner and was easily taken down. He struck his head forcefully on the sidewalk, which produced a significant laceration on his forehead." Crown sought imprisonment. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
2018
R v Baxter, 2018 ONCJ 608 (CanLII), per O'Donnell J	ON	PC	Conditional Discharge with 18 months probation	"During an arrest, the officer, with no justification, pushed the arrestee face-first into and along a fence and then “grounded” the arrestee, causing facial cuts." Crown sought 60 days CSO. "the officer was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm during the lawful arrest of the victim. The offence occurred when the officer grabbed the victim and pushed him up face first and sideways against and along a fence and then took him to the ground causing a "nasty gash" to his face. The court imposed a conditional discharge with 200 hours of community service. The court held that the sentence satisfied the principles of deterrence, denunciation, rehabilitation, reparations, and a sense of responsibility in the offender (paragraph 40)." Find summaries of case.
2016
R v Lofroth, 2016 BCPC 429 (CanLII), per de Walle J	BC	PC	Suspended Sentence	The offender plead guilty to common assault. He was transporting the complainant from his vehicle to booking and used excessive force in the process. Crown sought suspended sentence. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
R v Briegel, 2016 ABPC 194 (CanLII), per Wheatley J	AB	PC	Conditional Discharge	"the offending police officer, in responding to a report of a drunken male, pulled the victim into a sitting position and struck him three times in the face. The assault caused the victim to suffer a complex eye socket fracture which required surgical intervention. A conditional discharge was imposed with 120 hours of community service." Find summaries of case.
2013
R v Mantler, 2013 BCPC 98 (CanLII), per Koturbash J	BC	PC	Suspended Sentence plus 18 months probation	The offender plead guilty to common assault. Crown sought suspended sentence. Find summaries of case.
R v Bal, 2013 BCPC 21 (CanLII), per Fratkin J	BC	PC	Suspended Sentence	The offender plead guilty to common assault. The RCMP officer hit a detainee in the head and pushed his face into asphalt. Crown sought suspended sentence. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
R v Lozada, 2013 ONCJ 770 (CanLII), per Perkins-McVey J	ON	PC	CSO	The offender was a caregiver for elderly. He assaulted a 90 year old patient. Find summaries of case.
2012
R v Thomas, 2012 ONSC 6653 (CanLII), per Code J	ON	SC	Suspended Sentence with 1 years probation	the accused "was found to have been justified in arresting and using “one or two punches” to subdue a dangerous driver, but who continued (absent justification) with multiple punches against the non-resistant arrestee, causing a broken jaw". The case "involved an off-duty police officer. While off-duty, the accused was driving home with his girlfriend and two young daughters when a car driven by the complainant came up from behind at a high rate of speed, flashed its lights and followed closely. The complainant’s car first passed the accused’s car, and then cut him off requiring the accused to take evasive action in order to avoid an accident. The accused eventually pulled over and arrested the complainant for dangerous driving, and a physical altercation ensued. At trial, the force applied during the arrest was found to be excessive. The accused was convicted of assault causing bodily harm, and initially sentenced to a period of 90 days in jail, to be served intermittently. An appeal of sentence was allowed, and a sentence of one-year probation with 100 hours of community work service was substituted due to the fact that the accused was an unusually skilled police officer that had served his community in an exceptional way." Find summaries of case.
R v Zheng, 2012 ABPC 72 (CanLII), per Dixon J	AB	PC	4 months CSO	"arrest scenario, involving punches, a take-down to the ground, further punches, kneeling on the unresisting arrestee’s head, and later pushing the arrestee down to the ground and stepping on his neck and head.... The arrestee suffered “pain and stiffness to the right side of his head and jaw and soreness to his ribs. His nose was bleeding and had a lump. He was incapacitated for three days and experienced rib soreness for at least a month.”... The sentence was a four-mouth conditional sentence order (first 45 days full house arrest; thereafter absences permitted for community service) and 100 hours of such service." [2] Find summaries of case.
R v Smith, 2012 ONCJ 730 (CanLII), per Pringle J	ON	PC	Conditional Discharge	The level of violence was "minimal" and the conduct was a momentary loss of control. Crown sought suspended sentence. Defence sought a discharge. Find summaries of case.
2011
R v Ens and Moyse, 2011 MBQB 301 (CanLII), per Schulman J	MB	SC	4 months CSO (Ens) 4 months jail (Moyse)	The offenders performed an unlawful arrest of the complainant and Moyse struck them multiple times. Find summaries of case.
R v Klassen, 2011 BCPC 109 (CanLII), per Werier J	BC	PC	Conditional Discharge	The offender "who was a police officer, along with one Gillan, who was also a police officer, were involved in what can only be described as a very serious assault of a middle-aged I believe he was a newspaper distributing person outside a major hotel in downtown Vancouver in which the complainant was injured but in which Mr. Klassen participated to a much lesser extent than Mr. Gillan. There was a trial in that matter, and at the end of the trial, Judge Werier found Mr. Klassen guilty of the assault of Mr. Khan." Crown sought 3 to 4 months jail. Find summaries of case.
2010
R v Lepine, 2010 ABPC 374 (CanLII), per Rosborough J	AB	PC	4 months CSO	" Lepine was a police officer. He first encountered the victim, Eagle, at the police station. Eagle had been found by police lying on the street, intoxicated, with a cut on his head. He was examined by paramedics, then placed in a police car for transport to the station. Lepine pulled Eagle from the car. He was subsequently observed pushing Eagle in the back and head with his foot, grabbing Eagle's head and holding it against a bench, pulling Eagle by the ankle along the floor to a cell, causing Eagle's upper body to strike the metal door jam to the cell, and swinging Eagle by the leg and throwing him against the back wall of the cell. A conditional discharge was not seen to be appropriate and Lepine was sentenced to four months conditional imprisonment." Find summaries of case.
R v Eegeesiak, 2010 NUCJ 10 (CanLII), per Veale J	NU	PC	Suspended Sentence	"an Inuk RCMP officer entered a guilty plea to two charges of assault. On two separate occasions, the accused had assaulted two Inuit men who were in police custody. The accused was posted in his home community of Iqaluit where he frequently policed relatives, friends and families that he had known all his life. Both of the complainants in the case had had what the accused considered to be negative interactions with relatives of the accused. The assaultive behaviour by the accused included choking and pushing that resulted in one of the complainant’s head being repeatedly banged on a table. The accused was given a suspended sentence with a period of probation of one year on each charge to be served concurrently." Find summaries of case.
R v Lambert, 2010 BCPC 151 (CanLII), per Gardner J	BC	PC	Conditional Discharge	"a police officer was found guilty of assaulting a prisoner in his custody. The sentencing judge found that it was not a situation that required the implementation of force. The accused was sentenced to a conditional discharged with 25 hours of community work service." Crown "opposed" discharge. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
2009
R v Byrne, 2009 ONCA 134 (CanLII), per Feldman JA	ON	CA	90 days	"[T]he accused was a court officer who was convicted of assaulting a young female in his custody." Find summaries of case.
R v Carrigan, 2009 CanLII 59434 (NL PC), [2009] NJ No 305 (P.C.), per Pike J	NL	PC	14 days jail	correctional officer assaults inmate causing bodily harm after being provoked. Accused asked for a discharge. Find summaries of case.
R v Gillan, 2009 BCPC 241 (CanLII), per Watchuk J	BC	PC	21 days CSO	same facts as R v Klassen, 2011 BCPC 109 Find summaries of case.
R v Hutchison, [2009 O.J. No. 3588 (O.C.J.)]	ON	PC	discharge
20089
R v Peters, 2008 BCSC 1839 (CanLII), per Powers J	BC	SC	6 months CSO	accused believed the complainant had information about the theft and location of the still missing bicycle. While on duty, the accused located the complainant, asked him to get into his police cruiser, and drove him to another location to meet up with another officer. After letting the complainant out of the vehicle, the accused demanded to know where the other bicycle was, and then punched the complainant three times in the face and also struck him in the torso with his knee. While in the car, the complainant had become agitated and angry, punched the silent patrolman, and was verbally abusive. However, when the complainant was let out, he did not make any aggressive move or gesture towards the accused. The accused was sentenced to a conditional sentence of 6 months and 50 hours of community work service. A DNA order and a firearms prohibition were also imposed. Find summaries of case.
R v Feeney et al, 2008 ONCA 756 (CanLII), per curiam	ON	CA	30 to 60 days	"[F]our court officers with the Toronto Police Service were convicted of assaulting a prisoner in the holding cells of the Old City Hall courthouse. The assault was a vicious revenge attack by four officers on a prisoner who had spilled juice on another officer. The four defendants also attempted to cover up their involvement, which included falsifying reports." Find summaries of case.
2007
R v Sweet, 2007 BCPC 240 (CanLII), per Weitzel J	BC	PC	Conditional Discharge	"a person was arrested following a dangerous, high speed car chase that involved police from several municipalities. The complainant, the driver of the vehicle, was injured when he lost control of the car causing it to leave the roadway. The complainant was unresponsive and taken from the car by the accused. The accused laid the complainant prone, handcuffed him, and then kicked him in the head with significant force. The accused police officer pled guilty at an early stage to a charge of assault causing bodily harm. The accused also took significant, self-initiated steps towards rehabilitation, such as counselling and anger management programs, at his own expense. The circumstances were highly emotional and dangerous, as it involved a high-speed chase that lasted many, many miles and many lives were put in jeopardy. The accused was given a conditional discharge and 100 hours of community work service." Crown sought $500 fine. Defence sought discharge. Find summaries of case.
R v DED, 2007 ABQB 508 (CanLII), per Rooke J	AB	SC	Conditional Discharge	The case "involves guilty pleas of assault and uttering threats by the accused, a 23-year member of the RCMP, against his daughter and her friend. The daughter of the accused had been caught using drugs and had run away. While the accused was not home, his daughter and her friends stole his vehicle and were arrested. The accused and his wife went to the RCMP detachment, and upon seeing his daughter’s friends in cells, the accused stated that he would “break their necks” if they ever stole anything of his again. When seeing his daughter, the accused found her to be defiant and gave her a “cuff” to the side of the head. The accused later returned to find his wife and daughter in an altercation, and being emotional and fearful that his daughter would run away again, he put his right hand on her neck and pushed her back and held her without restricting her breathing. The accused was initially sentenced to a fine of $500 on each count, and on appeal was granted a conditional discharge." Find summaries of case.
R v Reddy, 2007 BCPC 401 (CanLII), per Giardini J	BC	PC	Conditional Discharge	"an off-duty RCMP officer was found guilty of assault. The accused had been off-duty and socializing with other off-duty officers at a restaurant when the accused believed that another group of men, including the complainant, were making gestures at him and his friends and were encouraging him and his friends to fight with them. When the accused went outside to speak with the men, the group turned towards the accused and were carrying weapons including a baseball bat, a baton and a sword. The complainant ran towards the accused with the sword in the air. The accused went back into the restaurant and then pursued the men in his personal vehicle while calling 911 to request police assistance. When the group’s car was stopped and the individuals were removed from it, the accused entered into a physical altercation with the complainant. The trial judge found that the accused had grabbed the complainant’s jacket and that there was some other pushing or touching, but also found that the grabbing did not involve a significant amount of force. A conditional discharge was imposed as well as 30 hours of community work service." Crown sought a discharge. Find summaries of case.
2006
R v Ens, 2006 ABPC 164 (CanLII), per JDB McDonald J	AB	PC	CSO	The offender was a security guard} Find summaries of case.
2005
R v Tait, 2005 BCPC 273 (CanLII), per Ellan	BC	PC	Suspended Sentence	"involved a police officer who was convicted of assault causing bodily harm. The officer had arrested the complainant and put him into his police vehicle when the complainant spat in the face of the officer. The officer responded with three quick blows to the jaw of the complainant, breaking his jaw. Baird Ellan J. found that while the complainant was not physically confrontative; he was a difficult person, clearly antagonistic, and had challenged the officers both verbally and with body language. The officer’s three quick blows were found to be the direct and immediate response to the complainant spitting in his face, and the case was viewed as being more similar to those involving a fleeting or heated reaction rather than a campaign of gratuitous aggression. The accused was given a suspended sentence with 18 months probation and 40 hours of community work service." Crown sought custody. Find summaries of case.
R v Dugdale, (*no CanLII links)	ON	PC	Conditional Discharge	"a 5-year member of the police assaulted a detainee who was in the police station because he needed to give a breath sample. The detainee was being very uncooperative, at times argumentative and perhaps “playacting” throughout the process, and the officer became very frustrated. At one point, the officer grabbed the detainee by the throat and later used his boot to push the detainee’s leg off of a chair, which caused the detainee to roll to the floor. The sentencing judge found that no great degree of force was applied by the accused; there was nothing that actually constituted a “kick”, and that there are no allegations of injury. The accused was sentenced to a conditional discharge with 100 hours of community service."
R v Cardinal, (*no CanLII links)	ON	PC	discharge
2004
R v Langlois, 2004 BCPC 195 (CanLII), per Bagnall J	BC	PC	21 days CSO	"an on-duty police officer was discussing traffic violation notices with the complainant when the complainant insulted the officer with an obscenity. In response, the officer grabbed the complainant, dragged him in a headlock into the detachment, struggled with him, and choked him. While the accused expressed regret for the upset to his family, he did not offer an apology to the victim or express regret for his actions. A letter from a psychologist indicated that, at the time of the events, the officer was under considerable stress due to a number of illnesses in the family, and Bagnall J. accepted that there may well be a connection between those difficulties and the aberrant nature of the behaviour. The accused was convicted of assault, and sentenced to a conditional sentence order of 21 days. No firearms prohibition was ordered." Crown sought 30 to 45 days. Defence sought discharge.
R v Cronmiller, 2004 BCPC 1 (CanLII), per Weitzel J	BC	PC	30 days (Kojima) discharge (Kenney and Cronmiller)	"the court imposed a sentence on six different police officers who had entered guilty pleas to three counts of assault. The three victims of the assault were arrested on the Granville Mall in Vancouver and driven to a secluded area of Stanley Park where they were assaulted. The positions of the Crown and defence were similar to the matter before me. The Honourable Judge Weitzel made a distinction between cases where officers had acted in a "heat of the moment situation" and those which did not. In the former, he found judges generally imposed lighter sentences including discharges. Judge Weitzel said a "heat of the moment situation" could occur during a struggle, during a lawful arrest, or when an officer is set upon by an unruly person.... Judge Weitzel distinguished between the offenders as a result of his findings on their moral culpability. The sentences included an absolute and conditional discharge, suspended sentences, and conditional sentence orders. The different sentences were based on the circumstances of each offence, the role of the offender in the offence, and the offender's personal circumstances." Find summaries of case.
R v Williams, 2004 ONCJ 261 (CanLII), per Agro J	ON	PC	CSO	The offender assaulted the victim while on duty as peace officer Find summaries of case.
1999
R v Mand, 1999 ABPC 160 (CanLII), 334 AR 398, per Ayotte J	AB	PC	$100	The judge characterized the assault a breach of trust but of "minimal" force. Find summaries of case.
R v Hudd, 1999 CanLII 1734 (ON CA), 126 OAC 350, per curiam	ON	CA	60 days	"The appellant, a bailiff, was alleged to have assaulted the complainant, a young offender who was being transported with other young offenders from a youth centre to a detention centre because they had been rioting." Find summaries of case.
1998
R v Kidd, 1974 CanLII 469 (ON SC), 6 OR (2d) 769, [1998] O.J. No. 1739, per Lacourciere JA	ON	SC	discharge	Find summaries of case.
1996
R v MacDonald, [1996 AJ No 1099], {{{4}}}	AB	PC	fine	"the accused, a police officer, was a first-time offender with a laudable record over his 15 years of public service. The accused struck the complainant at a vulnerable time, because the complainant was intoxicated and her hands were handcuffed behind her back. Crowe J. found that the complainant had provoked the blow in question by kicking the accused in the back of the head and by launching into a tirade of vulgar verbal abuse. The blow by the accused was found to be unpremeditated."
1995
R v Grant, [1995] AJ No 148(*no CanLII links)	AB	CA	one day jail and fine	"Police officer entered guilty plea to allegation of using pepper spray on a jailed inmate facing an Impaired Driving charge. Police Officer had been trained in the use of the spray and after deploying it, he did not decontaminate the complainant. The victim suffered a non-permanent injury. The issue of Court concern was the Crown request to impose a weapons ban. The appeal was allowed to the extent that a s.100 weapons ban was granted but the lower Court sentence was upheld."
1991
R v Nixon, 1991 CanLII 905 (BC CA), per Cumming JA	BC	CA	9 months imprisonment	The offender was convicted of aggravated assault. Find summaries of case.
1990
R v Cline, [1990 AJ No 1200 {{{3}}}], per Porter J	AB	PC	30 days	The case "involved an on-duty officer who attended a house with another officer to remove the complainant from the front doorstep of his former girlfriend. When the complainant was unwilling to leave, the accused used his baton to deliver a number of blows to the hand of the victim who was hanging onto the front door handle of the house. At the time of the blows, the other officer had secured the complainant in an arm lock, and the complainant did not display or threaten any violence toward the officers. Porter J. found absolutely no provocation that led to the degree of force used. The accused was convicted of assault causing bodily harm..."
1981
R v Bottrell, 1981 CanLII 352 (BC CA), per Laycraft JA	BC	CA	45 days	The accused was convicted of assault causing bodily harm. "[T]he assault occurred as a result of a scuffle with a person the officer was attempting to arrest and, while this in no way excuses the officer's conduct, it provides an explanation‑‑as Crown counsel says, it was an "adrenalin high" situation." Court of appeal reduces the sentence from three months to 45 days. Find summaries of case.
R v Canada (RCMP), , [1981] BCJ 856 (BCCA)(*no CanLII links)	BC	CA	45 days	"the accused, a police officer, kicked a prisoner in the face and fractured the prisoner’s cheekbone. At the time, the prisoner was on the ground, defenceless and presented no threat to the officer or others. The accused was convicted of assault causing bodily harm, and initially sentenced to 3 months imprisonment. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 45 days, to be served intermittently."
R v Harper, [1980] B.C.J. No. 722(*no CanLII links)	BC		30 days	"the British Columbia Court of Appeal ...imposed a 30-day custodial sentence. The offender was a police officer who, after trial, was convicted of an assault causing bodily harm. The officer asked the victim to get into the police vehicle and, when he refused, the officer struck him three to four times, knocking out a tooth and bruising the face and neck. Macdonald J.A. found that a conditional discharge "is unlikely to deter other police officers from assault.""
R v Cusack, 1978 CanLII 2283 (NS CA), per Hart JA	NS	CA		Find summaries of case.
1975
R v Griffin, 1975 CanLII 1430 (PE SCAD), [1975] PEIJ No 64, per Trainor CJ	PEI	CA	Absolute Discharge	The offence "involves a police officer who was found guilty of assault against a detainee by striking him in the face and eye with a “billy stick”. The complainant was arrested for creating a disturbance in a well-known motel, and it was very difficult for officers to first, get him into the police car, and then out of the police car and into the jail building. It was during the time that the accused was trying to get the difficult complainant into the cellblock that he struck the complainant with his “billy stick”. The accused was initially given a suspended sentence, which was varied to an absolute discharge on appeal. On appeal, it was found that the trial judge gave undue weight to the actual results of the assault rather than the probable results." Find summaries of case.
R v Miles, 1975 CanLII 1407 (AB CA), 24 CCC (2d) 529, per McDermid JA	AB	CA	fine	"The respondent, a police officer, intervened when he saw Wayne Douglas Lumsden assaulting a woman. Later, Lumsden and friends broke into the respondent's house, threatening him and his wife. After Lumsden was arrested for these actions, the respondent, while on duty, assaulted Lumsden in an interview room following Lumsden's repeated threats against the respondent's wife. The assault resulted in Lumsden sustaining minor injuries. The respondent was charged and pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm but was granted an absolute discharge by the Provincial Judge." [3] Find summaries of case.

See Also

• Breach of Public Trust (Sentencing Cases) (for non-violent offences committed by peace officers)