The regulatory agency for veterinarians in B.C. has dropped a legal challenge to a finding that an investigation of Indo-Canadian vets associated with discount clinics was racially motivated and has issued an apology to all of the complainants involved in the rancorous dispute.

On Monday, the College of Veterinarians of B.C. announced that it would not pursue a judicial review of an October 2015 decision of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that found that the then-B.C. Veterinary Medical Association had engaged in discrimination against 13 Indo-Canadian vets, including Dr. Hakam Bhullar of Vancouver.

The college, which was formed after the association was phased out in 2010 and represents about 1,200 members, said that in “the spirit of moving forward and acknowledging the findings of discrimination,” it wished to apologize to all of the complainants for the “loss of dignity, pain and suffering” it had caused.

In particular, it cited Bhullar and his family, who the college said had suffered professional and personal distress since Bhullar’s licence to practice was removed in December 2009. Bhullar has since been reinstated.

“The college acknowledges its past mistakes in the standards, inspection and discipline arenas,” says a statement on the college’s website. “The college is now working to improve its processes and foster positive, constructive and forward-looking relationships with the complainants and all registrants.”

Bhullar, who estimates the vets spent $1.7 million fighting the case, said he’d suffered “a lot” over the years but was happy that justice had finally been served.

“Publicly they are apologizing, which is a big healing for me, for my family and other Indo-Canadian vets also.”

The tribunal found that the association had tolerated and facilitated the discussion of wide-ranging and race-based allegations about Indo-Canadian vets in a case that had stretched out over more than a decade.

The initial dispute surrounded allegations that rates being charged by some Indo-Canadian vets were undercutting their competitors, but the economic issue quickly became racialized and swirled around the place of origin of the vets.

Shortly after the tribunal’s decision, the college said it would proceed with a judicial review because a number of its members were “wrongly described” as being involved in racial discrimination.

The college insisted that it had been motivated in its investigation of Bhullar and the other vets by the desire to “carry out its statutory duty to provide the necessary and appropriate protection to animals.”

But in Monday’s announcement, released by CVBC president Brendan Matthews and the college’s CEO Luisa Hlus, the college said that resolution had been achieved after “careful” consideration and a confidential mediation between the college and Bhullar, and Dr. Pavitar Bajwa, two of the complainants.

The tribunal ordered that the 13 vets, who were born and raised in India, be paid between $2,000 and $35,000 a piece, but due to the confidentiality of the mediation, the parties are not saying how much the college will being paying out.

“We are not needing to increase current registration fees in order to meet the terms of the mediated settlement,” said Hlus.

The settlement only addresses the tribunal’s orders in relation to Bhullar and Bajwa, she added. The tribunal awarded Bhullar $30,000 and Bajwa $35,000.

As part of the agreement, Bhullar and Bajwa withdrew two further complaints filed with the tribunal. Other litigation between the college and Bhullar and some former employees of the college was also resolved, said the college.

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A man who was convicted of fatally stabbing a taxi passenger at a busy downtown Vancouver intersection has been sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 10 years.

In November, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Kenneth Bryson Williams, 26, guilty of the February 2014 second-degree murder of Robert Tyson Smith, 28.

The fatal stabbing happened following a confrontation between the two men at Georgia and Granville that was witnessed by horrified onlookers in the city’s entertainment district.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with a period of parole ineligibility of between 10 and 25 years.

At the sentencing hearing, the Crown had argued for 12 years of parole ineligibility, saying that the aggravating factors called for Williams to spend more than the minimum period. The defence asked for 10 years.

In imposing sentence, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Patrice Abrioux said that the circumstances of the case did not warrant an increase in parole ineligibility beyond the 10-year minimum.

He cited the accused’s aboriginal background as being relevant on sentencing and accepted that Williams was “genuinely remorseful” and had a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Court heard that Williams was an alcoholic whose drinking problem stemmed from an aboriginal background that included exposure to his mother being abused at the hands of his father, with alcoholism running through the family.

The violent altercation occurred after Smith and a friend were travelling in a southbound taxi on Granville Street and Williams and a companion were walking north on Granville.

Williams, who had been drinking, and his companion, Robert White, were seen yelling and swearing and kicking a street bench and a garbage can before crossing Georgia Street through traffic and against the light.

One of the men kicked Smith’s taxi and Smith got out of the vehicle and confronted the men. White and Smith started to fight and Williams interjected, attacking Smith with a knife and stabbing him twice. Smith’s chest wound proved fatal.

Williams had little reaction to the sentencing as he sat in the prisoner’s dock in the Vancouver courtroom, which was packed with members of the families of the victim and the accused.

Adam Smith, brother of murder victim Robert Tyson Smith, speaks to the media at the sentencing of Kenneth Bryson Williams, convicted of the killing.

Outside court, Adam Smith, the victim’s brother, told reporters he was disappointed that the judge only gave the minimum of 10 years of parole ineligibility and was not happy that aboriginal factors, which Canadian judges are required to take into account on sentencing, had to be considered.

“My daughter is of mixed race, and my wife and I will teach her not to discriminate or treat people differently because of their backgrounds.”

He said he didn’t believe that the sentence imposed would act as a deterrent for others.

“The offender was protected all the way to the end. My brother had zero respect in that courtroom, ever. They only cared about the accused, which is really unfortunate.”

Smith said the court process had been “really debilitating” and a “heavy burden” for his parents.

Asked to comment on how he would like his brother to be remembered, he said: “My brother was a young man. He was full of love and life. He was a really hard worker, a helpful guy.”

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A young man accused in a swarming attack that killed a Burnaby teen in Whistler has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser and included offence of manslaughter.

There was clapping in the courtroom at first as a guilty verdict was announced for Arvin Golic, who was 18 years old when Luka Gordic was surrounded by a group of youths and stabbed to death at the ski resort in May 2015.

But after it became clear that the accused had been acquitted of second-degree murder and found guilty of manslaughter, the family of the victim expressed disappointment at the verdict handed down by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries in Vancouver.

The fatal assault happened on the long weekend in May when many students from the Burnaby area had congregated at the ski resort to celebrate graduation, many of them staying at various hotels and condos.

But following a dispute between the two youths, Gordic was attacked by a group of young men, including Golic, and stabbed. The group of attackers fled in different directions, but three young men, who have been tried separately, were arrested shortly afterward.

Golic, who was 18 at the time and was tried as an adult, was arrested several days later.

The judge, reading from a synopsis of her verdict, said that to prove murder, the Crown needed to prove specific intent on the part of Golic to cause death or to cause bodily harm he knew was likely to cause death and was reckless as to whether death ensued or not.

“In summary, there’s no evidence from which I can conclude that the only reasonable inference is that Mr. Golic planned to have Mr. Gordic killed and that he participated in the attack with the requisite intent for murder, even as a co-principal or as an aider or abettor,” said the judge.

Mother Clara and husband Mitch Gordic, as well as other family and friends of Luka Gordic, gathered outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver after the verdict was delivered.

Humphries added that while there was incontrovertibly evidence of a common intent to attack Gordic, the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Golic planned to kill Gordic, or recruited his friends to kill Gordic, or that he knew knives would be used.

But the judge said she was satisfied that Golic had a motive to cause Gordic harm. Court heard that Golic was angry because Gordic had told a friend of the accused that it was known that Golic was abusive to Golic’s former girlfriend and should stop doing that.

She said that Golic participated in the attack by punching Gordic, who was outnumbered and was prevented from defending himself.

“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that on all of the evidence, Mr. Golic had the necessary intent for manslaughter and participated in the attack as a co-principal.”

Gianni Buono, an uncle of the victim, told reporters outside court that he believed there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove that Golic intended to murder his nephew. Buono said he was “totally disappointed” at the verdict.

Clara Gordic, the mother of the victim, said she believed the accused ought to have been charged with first-degree murder.

“He’s a terrible person, just terrible,” she said of Golic. “There’s no explanation, there’s no words to describe him.” The mom said she still gets flashbacks from the horrible night her son was killed.

Mitch Gordic, the teen’s father, said it was clear that Golic had shown no remorse for killing his son.

“He just doesn’t care. That’s his personality.”

Matthew Nathanson, a lawyer for Golic, said outside court that it was a “very difficult” case for all involved.

“The Crown fought hard for a murder conviction, but the judge found that the evidence did not support that verdict. Although the defence fought hard for an acquittal, its alternative position was that manslaughter, not murder, was the appropriate verdict.

“The judge agreed with that alternative argument, and the defence respects the judge’s decision.”

The accused is to appear in court in two weeks to fix a date for sentencing. A verdict for the three other accused is expected June 29.

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The Metro Vancouver Regional District alleges that a West Vancouver couple trespassed on park lands adjacent to their home and wrongfully built a pavilion and other structures.

Since 2004, John and Janice Campbell, who live on Deep Dene Road near Collingwood School, have on numerous occasions entered the lands and without permission cut and limbed trees, built structures, constructed a flowerbed and laid grass, says the district.

In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the district says that the structures include a pavilion with a roofed entertainment area, concrete foundations, a paved floor and a masonry fireplace.

The pavilion also has overhead electrical heating, a mounted television, a microwave, a refrigerator, a barbecue and a plumbed sink, the district’s lawsuit says.

The alleged “trespasses” on the lands were discovered by the district on Feb. 11, 2016, and affect about 848 square metres of a regional park known as Capilano River Regional Park, which is owned and managed by the district. 

“The defendants carried out some or all of the trespasses with the intention of increasing the value, uses, enjoyment and marketability of the Campbell property,” says the writ.

Aggravated and punitive damages are being sought because the actions of the couple were “reckless, self-interested and showed a callous disregard for the environmental sanctity of the park lands,” it says.

A paved, roofed pavilion can be seen on parkland at top right of this image from Google Maps.

The district, which says the lands are only to be used for public park and recreational purposes, is seeking injunctions to restrain the couple from entering the lands and ordering them to remove all of the structures.

In a response filed after being served with the lawsuit in April, the couple admit to the existence of a “physical encroachment” onto the lands, but claim that until notified to the contrary earlier this year, they believed they owned the property in question.

“In reliance on their honestly held belief that they owned the affected lands, the defendants invested considerable sums of money in improving the affected lands,” says the response.

“The plaintiffs were aware that the defendants were improving the affected lands and, by their silence, they acquiesced in construction of improvements on the affected lands. The defendants relied to their detriment upon the acquiescence to the encroachment on the affected lands.”

They say that since they purchased their property in 1990, there never existed a natural forest on the lands, which instead are unkempt and overgrown by invasive plant species which thrive as a consequence of the removal of natural forest cover in a B.C. Hydro right of way.

The couple admit they removed some trees from the lands, but claim that all such trees were dead or dying and constituted a threat to their health and safety.

“The defendants further say that any vegetation damaged or disturbed by them had no actual value and will easily regrow and replace itself.”

The lands in question are inaccessible by members of the public and unusable as parklands, added the couple.

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A Richmond man confessed to his brother that he had stabbed their younger brother multiple times in a “mad rage,” according to a taped phone call that was played in court on Friday.

The confession was made by Douglas Cameron Orr, who has pleaded not guilty to the November 2014 second-degree murder of Robert Brown Orr, 59, of Vancouver.

The Crown’s theory is that the accused confronted his brother in the lobby of the victim’s Kerrisdale apartment and stabbed him to death due to long-standing resentment and anger over a decades-old stock market transaction.

In court Friday, Crown counsel Daniel Mulligan called as his final witness Jim Orr, who is six years younger than his brother Douglas and was 14 months older than Robert.

The witness told B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams that on Nov. 20, 2014, a week after the slaying, he got a phone call from the accused, who had been arrested and was in prison.

Jim Orr told the judge that at the time of the call, which Douglas would have been advised was being recorded, he had had little contact with Douglas for nearly 10 years after a falling out between the two siblings.

The accused begins the phone call by telling Jim that he had been asking Robert for a long time about the disputed stock deal. He rambles on at length about other financial matters.

Jim responds by asking his brother whether he is trying to make him feel sorry for his older brother, and when Douglas denies this, Jim asks him how many times he has heard the story about the stock deal in the past 40 years.

Jim angrily points out that Douglas had just killed their brother, who had “nothing in his life, $25 in his pocket” and owed the government a large sum of money.

“And you f—ing killed him because you wanted some money from him, when you had twice, 10 times the amount of money he had,” said Jim.

Asked by Jim what happened, Douglas tells him that he was outside the Balsam Street apartment building and went inside and pushed Robert in an “absolute rage” and admits he has “almost no defence.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to come up with a defence,” says Jim.

“No, no, I’m not trying to come up with a defence, Jim. There’s no defence, Jim,” says Douglas.

“But how many times did you stab him,” says Jim.

“Multiple times,” says Douglas. “I was, uh, it was a mad rage, mad mad rage. I’m not, I’m not trying to justify it …”

Jim tells Douglas that he and Robert were “extremely close” and had discussed the stock deal, and Robert had “no knowledge” about what Douglas was talking about.

Later in the 30-minute conversation, Jim denies that Robert, who he says at one point had earned $20 million to $30 million as a stockbroker, ever “screwed” anyone, and tells him that Robert was “generous to a fault.”

“Robert screwed himself over and over again. He made himself so much money and just pissed it away and gambled it away, but he never stole or took from other people.”

Jim presses Douglas to plead guilty and spare their mother, who he says has suffered a broken heart, any further ordeal. He tells Douglas that Douglas has talked about killing himself many times and demands to know why he hasn’t done it.

“Just because, well, first of all, you’ve got to get it right, otherwise, you make a mistake, you end up in a bigger mess,” replies Douglas.

“You don’t have the balls, that’s why,” says Jim. “You just don’t have the balls, so you have the balls to kill Robert.”

Jim adds: “So, you, all you’re doing is tainting my memory of Robert and I really, it’s distasteful, Douglas, it really is.”

The trial, which began in 2015 but was adjourned soon after when a judge ordered Douglas to undergo a psychiatric assessment after his lawyer said he couldn’t get proper instructions from him, resumed earlier this year.

On Monday, Martin Peters, Douglas Orr’s lawyer, is expected to call evidence including testimony from his client and from a psychiatrist.

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A judge has ruled that the confession of a man accused of fatally shooting a West Vancouver male and chopping up his body is admissible in court.

A lawyer for Li Zhao, 56, who has pleaded not guilty to the May 2016 second-degree murder of Gang Yuan, 42, had argued that the accused’s statements to police after he was arrested were not given voluntarily and should be thrown out.

In a brief ruling Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes said he “greatly appreciated” the quality of the submissions of the lawyer. He said that the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Zhao’s statements were voluntary and should be admitted as evidence.

The judge said that the reasons for his decision, which came after a lengthy pre-trial proceeding, would be given at a later date.

The accused, who came into court wearing a suit and tie, had little reaction to the ruling.

In the statements to police, Zhao told an officer that following an argument with Yuan, a millionaire businessman who lived in his British Properties home with Zhao and Zhao’s wife, he fatally shot the victim.

Zhao confessed to police that after the shooting he dragged Yuan’s body from the driveway into the garage, where he used a power saw to cut up the body.

The accused’s lawyer argued that the statements were not voluntary for a number of reasons, including that Zhao was cold and hungry in the Vancouver jail before being interviewed by police and that he was not given a proper warning that he had the right to remain silent.

But the Crown argued that the conditions of the accused in jail before giving the police statement could not be characterized as inhumane and that what went on in the interview room was more important to the issue of voluntariness.

The trial is expected to continue Tuesday with testimony from a number of police officers.

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A woman who is accusing her ex-husband of trying to destroy her life by harassing her through emails and on a website began her testimony in court Monday.

Crown counsel Mark Myhre told a B.C. Supreme Court jury that the campaign of harassment by Patrick Fox of Burnaby against Desiree Capuano of Arizona arose from a bitter custody dispute involving their son.

At the end of the dispute, Capuano had custody of the boy, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, Myhre told the jury.

“Mr. Fox stated that it was his goal to do everything in his power to make her life as miserable as possible, hopefully so miserable that she would commit suicide,” he said.

Myhre said that the accused’s goal was carried out through email communications with Capuano and through a website that he had created. He said the accused also sent four handguns registered to him to an address in California.

The prosecutor said that he would play an audio tape of Fox speaking to an RCMP officer, admitting to shipping the guns to the U.S. and to being the author of the website and that it was his intention to “ruin her life.”

Fox, who apart from having a court-appointed lawyer to cross-examine Capuano is self-represented, has pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal harassment and one count of possessing firearms in a place where he wasn’t authorized to do so.

Court heard that the couple met in a bar in January 2000, when Fox was going by a different surname, and got married in August of that year. Their son was born in September 2000 and the couple was separated in 2001.

Capuano, 36, a mother of two, told the jury that the tone of many of the emails her ex-husband sent her was demanding, mean and aggressive.

In an email sent to her in July 2013, seeking an “amicable” resolution to their dispute, Fox, who is six years older than Capuano, demanded that she return their son immediately or face “repercussions,” she said.

Desiree Capuano, shown in this undated handout image, says she lives in constant fear because of a website created by her ex-husband Patrick Fox, but the British Columbia Crown has declined to lay criminal harassment charges.

The email threatened that every past and present employer of hers would be scrutinized and her life “picked apart,” with every person she’d had a relationship with found and questioned, said Capuano.

“How did (Fox’s) words make you feel?” asked Myhre.

“Scared,” replied Capuano, who was testifying behind a screen ordered by the judge that prevented the accused from making eye  contact with her. Fox had a small TV screen placed in front of him that allowed him to see his ex-wife sitting in the witness box behind the screen.

Capuano told the jury that she believed Fox when he said in an email at one point that he didn’t think anything would be more important than destroying her and got the impression he’d hired an investigator to search for her.

“I was always looking around, always. I didn’t have anything to hide. But thinking somebody was following me, makes you look around.”

Capuano, who works in IT, said Fox contacted her employer and many of her work colleagues were wrongly left with the impression she was a stripper and a drug user.

She said she sent Fox an email asking that he cease and desist, claiming that she was being harassed, but Fox replied that it was not technically harassment and she had no basis for making such a claim.

Fox’s website had on it some private photos, including photos of her in bed and pictures of her bedroom.

Capuano said she discussed the problem with her employer and the employer was supportive but because of the harassment she was always seen as more of a security threat than anyone and in 2015, when the company she was working for laid off some workers, she was let go even though she’d been there for seven years.

She said she contacted the Phoenix police after discovering the existence of the website and the harassment stopped “for a little while” but it eventually resumed.

Earlier, Myhre told the jury that they would be hearing a lot about the interactions between the couple and that there was a potential to be sidetracked.

He said the issue for them would be whether the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Fox’s actions with the website he created and the emails he sent caused Capuano to have a legitimate fear for her safety.

Fox, wearing red prison clothing, sat quietly in the prisoner’s dock taking notes during Monday’s proceedings.

Capuano is expected to continue her testimony Tuesday.

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Related

• B.C. man creates revenge website calling ex-wife child abuser and drug addict, but no criminal harassment charge laid
• Gordon Clark: Who will keep us safe from online harassment?

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An Arizona woman says she was so frustrated by her ex-husband’s emails and website posts that she considered giving up custody of her son in a bid to bring an end to what she considered a campaign of harassment.

During her testimony Tuesday, Desiree Capuano broke down in tears several times as she described the impact of the emails sent to her by Patrick Fox, also known as Richard Riess, who has pleaded not guilty to criminal harassment and possession of firearms at a location where he was not authorized to do so.

Court has heard that during the time of the emails and website posts, the couple were engaged in a bitter custody dispute over their son.

From January 2015 to May 2016, Fox, 43, sent Capuano a series of allegedly abusive emails and created a website that the Crown claims was aimed at destroying her life.

Capuano, 36, told a jury that she went to court several times and contacted police in B.C., where Fox lived, and the United States, in a bid to have the website shut down — all to no avail.

She said she was fearful for her physical safety and believed that Fox, who had been deported from the United States, had found a way to come back to the U.S.

Asked by Crown counsel Mark Myhre to summarize the impact of the emails, Capuano said she felt isolated, “beat up,” powerless and frustrated.

“It’s like he had worked it out so that nothing he did he could get into trouble for,” Capuano told the jury. “I was losing jobs, I was losing friends.”

Myhre asked her if she contemplated giving up her son, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban imposed by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes.

“I contemplated it, yes. But I knew that even if I had, I knew it wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t stop.”

Capuano said that she had more ideas of how to put an end to the alleged harassment, including getting a name change and “trying to disappear” so that Fox could not locate her.

“You haven’t done that?” asked Myhre.

“I don’t want to run,” said Capuano. “I don’t want to hide. I just ’’want it to stop.”

Tuesday was the second day of direct testimony for Capuano, who was asked by the Crown to comment on a number of the emails and website posts.

Patrick Fox is on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver for criminal harassment of his ex-wife, Desiree Capuano.

At one point, the jury was shown photos posted on the website created by Fox, which depicted a number of people including Capuano, her then-partner and a second son of Capuano’s from another relationship.

Capuano told the jury that the photos, which she considered to be private, were a sign of the intention of Fox to go after her other child, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

“This scared me so much because that’s public,” she said of the website postings, which also included photos of her house and a map of where she lived.

“Again, this is a danger and a risk to a minor.”

She said her other child was 12 years old at time and had done nothing to deserve punishment, adding that she discussed with others the possibility of disappearing so she could protect her son.

Capuano also criticized an email from Fox that said he wanted to add an intimate picture of her on the website, with him saying he was prepared to hire someone to have sex with her and claiming there was nothing illegal about his plan.

“It was disgusting,” she said of the email. “It was sick.”

Capuano told the jury that the couple’s son was a “constant” source of contention, with Fox calling her an “idiot” and a “terrible parent” and trying to undermine her relationship with the boy.

“I was just trying to build a relationship with my son. It was a challenge to get to know each other, especially with (Fox) trying to destroy (the relationship) at every turn.”

Court heard about one email in which Fox told Capuano he wanted to make life so miserable for her that she would commit suicide.

Capuano told the jury that while she never contemplated suicide, there were many times she questioned whether she had the strength to keep up and whether she would get her life back.

“I didn’t know if I could get used to this kind of life forever.”

Capuano’s cross-examination is expected to begin Wednesday.

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Related

• Burnaby man waged online campaign to destroy his ex-wife, court told

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A lawyer for a B.C. man accused of conducting a campaign of harassment over the Internet against his former wife is suggesting that the alleged victim was not fearful for her safety as she claims.

The suggestion was made by lawyer Anthony Lagemaat during his cross-examination of Desiree Capuano, 36, who has accused Patrick Fox, 43, of abusive emails and website posts during a bitter custody battle over their son.

In her direct testimony, Capuano, a resident of Arizona, told a B.C. Supreme Court jury that the goal of the emails and posts from Fox was to destroy her life and get her to commit suicide.

But on Wednesday, Lagemaat took her through a series of emails starting in 2014 and running into 2015 that have the former couple exchanging insults with one another.

In some of the emails, Capuano called Fox a “little man” and his mother a “trashy prostitute” with others questioning his manhood.

Under questioning from Lagemaat, Capuano, a mother of two, conceded that she was reacting angrily to some of Fox’s own insults.

“You weren’t fearful at that time because if you were fearful, you wouldn’t call his mother a prostitute, would you?” asked Lagemaat.

“Not necessarily,” said Capuano. “I’m also trying to defend myself.”

“That’s not defensive,” said Lagemaat. “That’s offensive.”

“After years of being insulted by somebody and trying not to respond, I was at a point where I wasn’t going to just accept,” said Capuano, who was testifying behind a screen in the Vancouver courtroom.

“I was going to give back. I was going to try to let him know I wasn’t going to be pushed around. It was my goal that maybe if he realized I wasn’t scared, that he would stop.”

Fox has pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal harassment and one count of possessing firearms in a location where he was not authorized to do so.

Related

• Burnaby man waged online campaign to destroy his ex-wife, court told
• Woman says she thought of giving up son to end ex-husband's online harassment

The issue of whether Capuano was legitimately fearful for her safety in all of the circumstances is central to the elements of the offence of criminal harassment that the Crown has to prove in order that the accused be found guilty.

At one point, Lagemaat challenged Capuano’s assertion that she was engaging in the “intellectual banter” with her former husband because she wanted to get information from him.

“All of it is to try to get him to take the website down,” said Capuano. “But I also needed to know what he was planning. Some of it was banter, some of it was frustration, bravado. There’s many reasons.”

“Did you ever wonder what would happen if you just stopped?” asked Lagemaat.

“I tried that in 2011, 2012, 2013,” said Capuano. “I tried that, it just didn’t work. It just kept escalating.”

Lagemaat pointed out that in 2014, Capuano started insulting her ex-husband, who had lost custody of their son to Capuano but still had visitation rights.

“You definitely weren’t afraid,” said the defence lawyer.

“I was,” insisted Capuano.

Court heard that the couple met in a bar in January 200, when Fox was going by a different name, and got married in August of that year. Their son was born in September 2000 and the couple was separated in 2001.

The cross-examination of Capuano is expected to continue Thursday.

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B.C.’s top trial court has issued a directive aimed at reducing chronic delays for major criminal cases in the province.

The practice direction of the B.C. Supreme Court, which was posted on the court’s website Wednesday, says the court intends to better manage large or complex cases that show the potential to take a long time or to incur delays.

It calls for the establishment of a case management judge early in the process and establishes deadlines for such things as the completion of disclosure of evidence to the defence, pre-trial applications and the actual trials.

For example, if the case begins in B.C. provincial court before moving to the B.C. Supreme Court, the deadline for completion is 24 months following the accused person’s first appearance in the Supreme Court.

If the case is initiated by direct indictment the goal is for the trial to conclude within 28 months of the first court appearance.

Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen of the B.C. Supreme Court.

Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen of the B.C. Supreme Court said the direction is a product of a process that began more than three years ago and involved most of the significant participants in the criminal justice system in the province.

He said the bigger cases can be “extremely difficult” to manage but was hopeful the new direction can speed up the trial process.

“I think this will speed up that sort of case quite a bit. If it works for the major cases then it could become a part of a change in the culture of how we deal with some of the general run of cases which also from time to time suffer from delay.”

He identified one of the chief sources of delay as the disclosure of material from the police and Crown to the defence lawyers.

“You quite frequently will hear counsel coming before the court saying, ‘Well, I’ve just been handed 500,000 pages of notes and disclosure and it’s going to take me some time to get through.'”

Cullen said the direction is that police must get their disclosure to the Crown as soon as possible and the Crown has to turn around and get it to the defence so it can be assessed.

“So the sooner the disclosure is made, the sooner the defence can assess the case and the sooner they can decide what if any pre-trial motions to bring and what those motions will involve. The sooner we can set those dates, the sooner we can set trial dates.”

In an email response, the B.C. Prosecution Service said it has been considering the potential affect of the practice direction on prosecutions and preparing for its implementation, which is set for September.

“We have instituted a number of initiatives over the last few years as part of our efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce times to trial. We hope the new practice direction will contribute to fair and timely justice.”

Mark Gervin, a Vancouver criminal lawyer and chair of the criminal justice section of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. branch), said he would be “shocked” if, for example, the deadlines reduce the time it takes to get disclosure to the defence.

“They might be able to do so, but so far the history is not promising us getting that kind of disclosure in that timely fashion.”

He said another problem is there have been decades of government cuts to legal aid, with the vast majority of murder trials now being run on legal aid.

“So you have people who are trying to stave off bankruptcy, criminal lawyers who are now being asked to drop their practices and devote their full-time attention to these new directives.”

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Four handguns the Crown alleges were shipped to California by Patrick Fox, who is charged with conducting a campaign of harassment against his ex-wife, were concealed inside some computer equipment, says an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Frank Spizuoco told a jury Monday that he received a call from the RCMP in May 2016 advising him of a concern that some firearms had been shipped from Canada to an address in Carson, Calif.

He said he seized about 25 boxes that had been delivered to the home in Los Angeles County and later discovered four restricted handguns concealed within a central processing unit of a computer inside one of the boxes. The agent told the jury that he also found about 25 rounds of ammunition in another box and a total of seven magazines for the pistols. Also seized from the boxes were Canadian firearms licensing documents in the name of Fox, he said.

Under cross-examination by Fox, who is self-represented, Spizuoco said that the boxes also contained computer equipment, clothing and personal items.

Fox, 43, of Burnaby has pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal harassment of Desiree Capuano, 36, of Arizona, and not guilty to one count of possession of firearms in a location where he is not authorized to do so.

Manvir Mangat, owner of The Packaging Depot, earlier told the jury that he had shipped a number of boxes to California for Fox, who had done some computer work for him.

On Monday, the jury also heard from a Mountie who testified that after Fox was arrested in July 2015 he was warned that Capuano was fearful for her safety. Const. Jean-Philippe Dupont read from a transcript of an interview Fox gave at the Burnaby RCMP detachment following his arrest. He quoted from a statement by Const. Richard Huggins in which the officer told Fox that Capuano was afraid that if Fox was able to cross the border from Canada into the U.S. without being noticed, that he would find her and shoot her.

Fox was also told that Capuano didn’t want any further contact with him regarding emails or a website that Fox had created and which the Crown alleges was used to harass her, according to a statement from Huggins in the transcript.

Under cross-examination, Dupont said that charges initially laid against Fox were later stayed by the Crown.

The Crown’s theory is that Fox harassed Capuano over the Internet while the pair were engaged in a lengthy and bitter custody dispute over their son. 

After Dupont gave his testimony, prosecutor Mark Myhre said he was finished with the Crown’s case. Fox said he would be calling no evidence.

Final arguments by the Crown and Fox are expected to be delivered on Wednesday. On Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes is expected to give her final instructions to the seven-man, five-women jury, which will then begin deliberations.

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A spiritual leader in Aldergrove has been found not guilty of human smuggling, but guilty of a lesser immigration offence after an RCMP operation that saw 10 undercover Mounties moved across the border from the U.S. into Canada.

RCMP conducted surveillance on Joga Singh Badwal in 2011 and 2012 after receiving information that he was involved in smuggling people across the border.

When the police surveillance of Badwal, who ran a temple out of his home in Aldergrove, failed to detect any illegal activity, the undercover operation was launched.

An undercover officer, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, met Badwal at the accused’s address on 264th Street. The cop said he had come to talk about bringing his “friends” to Canada from the U.S. and Badwal said he was willing to help, court heard.

Badwal said the Blaine area was too “heaty,” which the cop took to mean there would be a greater law-enforcement presence. He also said it was easier to bring at least two people at a time. Asked what it would cost to bring two “friends” of the cop, Badwal said it depended on the driver, but he estimated about $3,000 per person.

Badwal indicated that he formerly did the driving himself, but now used others, making the rates variable and said the friends would be dropped off on the American side of the border and would have to walk across, maybe a mile or two.

Court heard that on three occasions in 2012 Badwal arranged for a total of 10 undercover cops to cross the border.

On the first crossing, in July 2012, two undercover cops who had travelled into the U.S. were picked up by the driver of a newer-model Dodge truck near a TacoTime restaurant and then driven to a road that ran adjacent to Zero Avenue. The driver told them he was going to slow down and asked that they get out as fast as they could and run across the street to the ditch and once they crossed the ditch, they’d be in Canada.

After crossing to the Canadian side, the two cops saw a red van coming toward them at a high rate of speed before stopping. The driver shouted at them to get into the vehicle and after they’d hopped into the van, the vehicle left at a high rate of speed. The van drove to a McDonald’s restaurant on 264th Street and dropped off the cops. An undercover officer gave Badwal $3,000, but reminded him of an earlier offer to cover hotel costs and Badwal gave back $200 in cash.

The other two crossings occurred in September and October 2012.  

After the third crossing, the driver who picked up five undercover cops on the Canadian side “made” the primary undercover cop who met with them and the operation was terminated and Badwal arrested and charged. A total of $13,000 that had been paid to Badwal after the third crossing was later recovered.

The human-smuggling trial was delayed due to a constitutional challenge to the section of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that Badwal was charged with.

In her verdict, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan noted that because the people being “smuggled” were actually undercover officers who could lawfully cross the border without documents as a result of arrangements with Canadian and U.S. authorities, the full offence of human smuggling could not be proven and that the Crown was seeking instead a conviction on an attempt to commit the offence.

But the judge found that notwithstanding Badwal’s “covert operation” to move people across the border and an awareness of what he was doing was wrong, she was not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the Crown had proven the essential element that he intended to smuggle undocumented migrants through actual knowledge they were undocumented or through wilful blindness.

The judge noted the new version of the law would likely have captured Badwal’s conduct as it no longer requires knowledge of a lack of documentation as an essential element of the offence.

Duncan, however, found Badwal guilty of the offence of failing to bring persons for examination when entering into Canada. Badwal is to be sentenced at a later date.

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A Surrey man who was convicted in connection with a hit-and-run accident that left an elderly woman seriously injured has avoided jail time.

In March, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Patrice Abrioux found Joe Yut Wong, 51, guilty of the January 2014 offence that  injured Yip Chan, 87.

In the early morning hours and with poor visibility, the construction contractor was slowly backing his Mercedes Benz out of his garage on 60th Avenue when he struck Chan, who was out for a morning walk at the time.

Chan suffered a skull fracture and related nerve damage which caused deafness in her left ear. She also had a broken jaw, multiple rib fractures and a collapsed lung.

Wong, a father of two, was found guilty of returning to the scene on two occasions only to leave the scene again. On one occasion he gave a brief statement to police providing his name and address but did not disclose his involvement in the accident.

He also deleted a 20-minute portion of a surveillance video that would have established that it was his vehicle that hit the victim.

The Crown argued that although a conditional sentence to be served in the community was available as a possible sentence, a five- to six-month jail term with a two-year driving prohibition was appropriate.

The prosecutor pointed to that fact that Wong’s moral culpability was high, he failed to remain at the accident scene not once but twice and he was not forthright with police.

But the Crown also acknowledged that Wong was a mature individual with no criminal record who was genuinely remorseful and that alcohol and drugs were not a factor.

Wong’s lawyer argued that a conditional sentence order would deal with the principles of denunciation and deterrence, pointed to many letters of support for Wong, and asserted that what he did that day was clearly a panic reaction, out of character for him.

In imposing sentence, the judge said that he was mindful of the “high moral culpability” of Wong and the devastating impact of the accident on Chan, who since the accident has been placed in a nursing home where she requires 24-hour care.

He imposed an eight-month conditional sentence to be followed by 18 months of probation.

“When I apply the principles to which I have referred to the circumstances before me, I conclude that a CSO couple with a term of probation containing a modified driving prohibition is a fit sentence,” said the judge. “This sentence satisfies the core sentencing principles of denunciation and general deterrence.”

The judge added that his reasons for giving a conditional sentence also included the poor visibility, the lack of any reckless driving and the absence of drugs and alcohol as well as the lack of a prior record and the letters of reference.

The conditions of the sentence include that for the first two months, Wong is not to leave his residence except in certain circumstances including travel to and from places of employment.

The probation order includes conditions that he be prohibited from driving except for employment purposes and that he perform 50 hours of community service. The sentence was given out orally by the judge on June 9 and posted on the court’s website Monday.

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A judge has adjourned a second application for an injunction to clear out a tent city in Vancouver.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves said Wednesday that the homeless defendants, who set up camp at the city-owned lot on Main Street in April, should be given a chance to find a lawyer and adjourned the case until Monday.

An advocate for the homeless had told the judge that a few more days was needed to get a lawyer to respond to the injunction application filed by the Lu’ma Native Housing Society.

The society, a non-profit organization, has been working on getting a social housing project built on the lot, at 950 Main St. near the Pacific Central train station, and on Friday signed a lease with the city. It filed an application for an injunction to remove about 50 homeless people from the site.

A lawyer for the society told the judge that there was “extreme urgency,” and funding for the project would be in jeopardy if the injunction application was not heard immediately.

Chantelle Rajotte said that arrangements were being made for shelter that could accommodate 60 people should the tent city be shut down.

In granting the adjournment Wednesday, the judge noted that there was now alternate housing being made available for the occupants of the tent city and expressed the hope that they take up the offer rather than head back to court.

A previous application by the city for an injunction to shut down the site was turned down by the B.C. Supreme Court in May.

The lot was acquired by the city in 1998 for the purpose of development of social housing, but remained vacant for nearly two decades. In January 2016, city council agreed to the development of a mixed-use project with commercial and retail, as well as social housing.

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A former jail guard charged with committing indecent acts at the Coquitlam RCMP cells has responded by filing a lawsuit over what he considers to have been inadequate security cameras at the detachment.

Kevin Taylor Ebel, who had been working as a guard at the jail for eight years, was on shift between June 1 and July 14, 2014, when a woman detained in the cellblock alleged that he’d committed the offences in front of her.

In September 2014, Ebel had his security clearance revoked as a consequence of the allegations and on June 18, 2015, he was charged with two counts of committing an indecent act in a public place. On June 25, 2015, the city of Coquitlam suspended Ebel without pay as a result of the charges.

In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Ebel says officials should have ensured that cameras were placed to cover all areas within the cellblock of the detachment so that all persons detained in the cells and the guards could conceivably be seen.

“It is a direct and foreseeable consequence of the negligence of the defendants, either individually or in combination, that the plaintiff’s career could be jeopardized and that he would suffer loss if false accusations were made against him as a consequence of insufficient security and monitoring of the cellblocks,” says his lawsuit.

“As a consequence of the defendants’ negligence, there is insufficient video of the plaintiff during times of the alleged acts to decisively exonerate him.  Consequently, he was charged criminally and suspended without pay by his employer.”

Named as defendants in the case are the Attorney-General of Canada, the B.C. justice ministry and the city of Coquitlam.

Ebel says that the security cameras did not record any actions by him supporting the allegations and that there were points during the shift when the security cameras did not capture his actions at all.

He says that in 2013 an audit conducted of the Coquitlam RCMP detachment identified “significant deficiencies” with respect to the surveillance and security of the cellblocks and recommended additional cameras be installed but that no action was taken between the date of the audit report and July 2014.

The plaintiff says that although he has taken steps to mitigate his damages by working as a mason’s assistant and then as a stone mason, he has suffered a significant reduction in wages and benefits as a result of the allegations.

He says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, depression, anxiety, loss of self-esteem and confidence and an inability to sleep at night. And he is seeking general, special, aggravated and punitive damages.

The justice ministry said in an email that it had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

“If it is, legal counsel will review what is being claimed and assess how to respond, but we cannot comment at this time.”

An RCMP spokeswoman said in an email that they had not been served with the suit but once they have formally been served they will review the information with the department of justice and their official response will be filed in court as a statement of defence.

A spokeswoman for the City of Coquitlam said the city does not comment on matters related to litigation or matters before the courts.

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The Crown is seeking a two-year jail term for a Vancouver man who was convicted of committing sex offences against an eight-year-old girl at a beach at the University Endowment Lands on Canada Day 2014.

In August 2016, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper found David Alan Lessor guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference of the girl, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

Lessor fired his lawyer after the conviction, and the sentencing has been delayed a number of times. In March the judge gave him a deadline to get a lawyer by June 22 or she would proceed with the sentencing regardless.

Lessor showed up without a lawyer Thursday, saying he’d been denied legal aid, and requested yet another adjournment but the judge rejected his application.

In her submissions, Crown counsel Kristin Bryson told the judge that the most important principles on sentencing were denunciation and deterrence.

She noted the fact that Parliament in recent years had passed laws calling for tougher sentences for people who sexually abuse children.

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• 'I have a lawyer. His name is Jesus': Man convicted of sex assault on eight-year-old girl forces adjournment
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Bryson said that Lessor had a prior conviction for sexual interference of underage girls and referred to a pre-sentence report in which Lessor declined to discuss the current offence.

A psychologist’s report on Lessor that was cited by Bryson had the accused being assessed as a moderate to high risk to reoffend.

Two victim impact statements —- from the victim’s mother, who also cannot be identified due to the ban, and the victim herself — were filed in court.

The mom said in her statement that reporting the crime could easily have cost her her daughter, who she had “fought tooth and nail for,” but that it had to be done.

“I didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to do it. It was drawn out, humiliating, inconvenient and extremely stressful for both of us.

“Mr. Lessor was so oblivious to the effect of his crimes against us that he exposed our privacy by talking to the news. He is charming, narcissistic and touches children inappropriately when drunk and stressed.”

The victim said in her statement that she was “OK” but that she was glad that it was over.

“I feel like I’m going to cry when I talk about it. I think he knew what he was doing.”

Lessor, who has told the judge he wants to pursue an application seeking a stay of the charges on the grounds of trial delay, said he would give his sentencing submissions Friday.

Court heard that Lessor approached the victim shortly after she and her mom arrived at Acadia Beach, west of Spanish Banks.

Lessor, who did not know the girl or her mother, began a conversation about their dog, a boxer, and sat down to talk with them.

In her testimony, the girl said that after her mom had gone to her vehicle to pick up some items, Lessor lifted her dress a number of times. The girl, who was wearing a bathing suit under the dress, said Lessor touched her on the part of the suit that was covering her vagina and her posterior.

Lessor denied the allegations and said nothing of a sexual nature had occurred but the judge did not believe his denials and convicted him.

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A well-known piano teacher in Vancouver’s Asian community who was convicted of sexually assaulting five of his female students should spend 40 to 44 months in jail, a prosecutor argued Friday.

In February, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray found Yung Ping David Chen guilty of nine counts relating to the crimes that occurred in the piano studio of his Vancouver home. The offences happened over a nearly 20-year period, from 1994 to 2013.

In his sentencing submissions, Crown counsel Steven Black told the judge that Chen, 69, was in a position of authority and trust over vulnerable victims, who were young and scared of him.

“On his own evidence, he admitted that he could be harsh and verbally abusive to his students. And he used this power and the fear that he instilled in them for his own sexual gratification.”

Chen, a highly regarded teacher who often had between 30 to 40 students at a time, touched the breasts of the victims during their lessons, some of them multiple times. He also kissed two of the victims.

Black read into the record the victim impact statements of two of the victims, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban imposed by the judge.

One of the victims, who is now 36 years old, said there were no words to describe the emotional pain that she had gone through during and after the incidents.

“David Chen took advantage of the teacher-student relationship for his personal selfish gain. I had a very strong and passionate talent for piano, one that he has taken away from me.”

The victim, now a mother of two, said that every time she hears piano music, she is reminded of the crime committed by Chen.

“How can such beautiful music leave such ill feelings to any one individual? When I hear the songs I was playing during the incident, it impacts me even more.”

The other victim said in her statement that she felt “very uncomfortable and violated” every time she was touched by Chen.

“Mr. Chen has hurt me and my family through his actions, but we have been able to forgive as we have been called to do so in our faith in God.”

During Black’s submissions, the judge pointed out that while the offences took place over a nearly 20-year period, they were “sporadic” during that time period.

Murray said Chen was “not the worst offender” and while there were many aggravating factors, his crimes were on the lower end of the spectrum for sexual assault.

David Albert, a lawyer for Chen, called for a sentence of two years less a day, with most of that sentence served as a conditional sentence in the community and a small amount, three months, to be jail time.

The court heard that Canadian laws against sex offences involving children have toughened in recent years, but only one of the offences involving one of Chen’s victims was committed recently enough to require a jail term, with a conditional sentence being ruled out.

Albert pointed out that there were far more serious cases of sexual assault in the case law, and noted that Chen is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record. He is 69 years old and suffering from depression in addition to being a low risk to re-offend.

He said the “exceptional” circumstances of his client’s case meant that he was a suitable candidate for much of the sentence to be served conditionally.

The judge questioned whether it was possible to impose a sentence including both jail time and time served conditionally, and the two lawyers replied that it was possible to do so. She said she would hand down her sentence July 24.

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A judge has reluctantly ordered about 50 homeless who have been camping on a city-owned lot in Vancouver designated for social housing to vacate the premises by Wednesday.

On Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves granted an injunction to dismantle the tents and other structures at 950 Main St., where the homeless have been camping since April 28.

The Lu’ma Native Housing Society, a non-profit group which is planning to build 26 social housing units for aboriginal people on the site and recently leased the land from the city, went to court after a previous attempt by the city for an injunction failed.

In granting the injunction, the judge said he identified with the “hopelessness” felt by the homeless and noted the frustration from the judges’ standpoint that they can’t do anything about such tent-city cases, which have been appearing before the courts in increasing numbers over the last few years.

“Much as I would sometimes like to think that judges can solve problems, we don’t. Much as I’d like to think that a judge is the arbitrator in a justice system, where justice is handed out, what I really am is a dispute resolution manager who finds facts, figures out what the law is, applies the law and no more.”

A man walks around his tent at the tent city at 950 Main Street in Vancouver. A judge has reluctantly ordered about 50 homeless who have been camping on a city-owned lot at 950 Main Street in Vancouver designated for social housing to vacate the premises by Wednesday.

The judge added that it was important for someone to apply the law, because applying the law and enforcing the rule of law creates a level of expectation and a level playing field in society.

“But abiding by the law doesn’t necessarily create a justice system for all those who come to the courts for redress.

“The solution to the housing crisis in Vancouver and particularly the homeless crisis in Vancouver more appropriately is something that requires a long-term solution that as a judge I cannot do and cannot address, unfortunately.”

The society argued that it would lose the $9-million project if the protest site wasn’t cleared away in part because of funding deadlines, including a $500,000 grant from an unidentified German foundation that threatened to pull out if the site was not dismantled by the end of June. Another $800,000 in federal funding was also on the line.

Court heard that there are more than 2,000 homeless people in the city, about 38 per cent of them aboriginal, while the city’s population in general has only 2.5 per cent aboriginal people.

The judge said he was satisfied that irreparable harm would befall the society if the injunction was not granted and ordered the site be cleared out by Wednesday noon.

He noted that there is now a plan in place to find 60 spaces in a shelter for the homeless people at the tent city to relocate to, with the assistance of the city. The judge’s injunction gives the police enforcement powers to dismantle the site, but it’s unclear what might happen on Wednesday.

Outside court, Maria Wallstam, an advocate for the homeless who spoke in court, said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling and added that it remained to be seen whether the court order would be obeyed.

“People don’t want to go into shelters. A shelter is not a home. There’s no privacy, there’s no dignity. People get pushed around. They’re also unsafe for a lot of people. So I imagine most people are going to be pushed back into the street.”

Dennis DeGuerre, one of three homeless people who addressed the court, told reporters that the ruling was a “bunch of b.s.,” and he intended to stay on the land.

“Hopefully we’re going to try to fight it. We’ve got to do something. We like the way it is right now. Simple.”

John Croft, another of the homeless campers, said he, too, would like to stay on in the tent city, and on his limited fixed income cannot afford anything else.

“The way it is now, I have nothing to live on. It’s more desperate, more desperate.”

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A judge has set aside the dismissal of an Air Canada employee who was fired for stealing some nuts and hand lotion from an aircraft in Vancouver.

“What are discarded nuts and hand lotion left behind by a first-class passenger on an Air Canada flight worth?” asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies in his ruling on the case.

“For Neena Cheema, an employee with Air Canada, they were worth the job she had worked at for 17 years.”

The incident that resulted in Cheema’s termination occurred on Feb. 10, 2016, while she was employed by the airline as a cabin service and cleaning attendant at Vancouver International Airport.

She found and picked up four unopened packages of almonds and a tube of unused hand lotion that had been left behind by a passenger in the first-class section of an aircraft that had arrived at the airport. She put the items in her jacket pocket but did not, as she said she intended to do, put them on the galley counter so that catering workers could determine whether the discarded items could be used again, according to the judge’s summary of the incident.

When she went into the airline’s human resources office to inquire about vacation dates, she reached into her pocket to see what time it was and found the items. She put them on the desk of the human resources employee and told her: “Here are some nuts and lotion for you.”

The human resources employee claimed Cheema also said to her: “I appreciate any help you can do.”

Air Canada investigated the incident and fired her.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 140, the union which represents Cheema, filed a grievance of the termination.

An arbitrator concluded that Cheema had committed theft and had attempted to bribe the human resources employee, and said that the termination was not excessive in all of the circumstances.

In his ruling in the case, the judge found that the arbitrator had failed to address the question of why Cheema’s actions in taking the discarded supplies or using them in open dealings with the human resources employee warranted her termination.

He said the arbitrator also failed to look at why some lesser penalty would not appropriately address her misconduct, especially in light of her 17 years of service with Canada’s largest airline.

“I am satisfied that the arbitrator’s conclusory reasons that the ‘termination was not an excessive response in all of the circumstances’ are not transparent and do not allow Ms. Cheema to know why the termination of her employment was not excessive,” said Davies.

“As such, on the issue of penalty, the arbitrator’s reasons fail the test of reasonableness.”

The judge, however, found that the arbitrator had not erred in concluding that Cheema had stolen the items and had attempted bribery.

He set aside the termination and ordered that the appropriate penalty for Cheema’s misconduct be re-submitted to arbitration for determination.

“That determination must have specific regard to the principle of proportionality and the need to provide transparent reasons.”

A spokeswoman for Air Canada said the company will be participating in the ongoing arbitration process and declined further comment. She also declined to say whether Neena Cheema is the same Neena Cheema who in April 2013 was handed a lifetime ban from the Vancouver Sun Run for cheating.

The union could not be immediately reached for comment.

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A jury has found a Burnaby man guilty of conducting a campaign of criminal harassment over the Internet against his former wife.

The verdict for Patrick Fox, 43, came early Wednesday afternoon following a day of deliberations by the B.C. Supreme Court jury in Vancouver.

The accused, who has been in custody since his arrest in May 2016, appeared to have little reaction to the verdict.

The jury also found Fox guilty of possessing firearms in a place where he was not authorized to do so, after he shipped four restricted handguns to California in the midst of a bitter custody battle with Desiree Capuano, 36, his former wife.

Reached for comment by telephone, Desiree Capuano said she was “so grateful” for the jury’s verdict.

“I don’t know that it will stop what he’s doing, but it was a step I needed to do to get him to stop.”

She thanked the Crown for the work put into the case.

“They went above and beyond to make sure I was safe.”

Crown counsel Mark Myhre asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes to order a pre-sentence report with a psychiatric component for Fox prior to him being sentenced.

He said he had concerns about Fox’s “obsessive hatred” for Capuano, a resident of Arizona, and the “hyperbole” on the website that Fox used to denigrate her.

Tony Legemaat, a lawyer who has been assisting Fox, told the judge that Fox opposed a pre-sentence report because it would take too long to complete.

The judge, who suggested it might be possible to get a psychiatric report without a full pre-sentence report, put the matter over until Thursday.

The Crown’s theory was that Fox was bent on trying to destroy Capuano’s life through a series of emails and a website that he had created.

The couple met in a bar in January 2000, when Fox was going by a different name, and got married in August of that year. Their son, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban imposed by the judge, was born in September 2000 and the couple was separated in 2001.

Capuano, a mother of two, testified that the tone of many of the emails was demanding, mean and aggressive.

In one email in July 2013, Fox demanded that she return their son immediately or face “repercussions” — including every past and present employer of hers being scrutinized and her life “picked apart” with every person she’d had a relationship with found and questioned.

Capuano, who testified behind a screen so that she would not have to make eye contact with the accused, told the jury she was scared and believed Fox when he said he didn’t think anything would be more important than destroying her. She said she got the impression he had hired an investigator to search for her.

“I was always looking around, always,” she told the jury. “I didn’t have anything to hide. But thinking somebody was following me, makes you look around.”

Capuano said she sent Fox an email asking that he cease and desist, but Fox replied that it was not technically harassment and she had no basis for making such a claim.

On cross-examination, Capuano denied a suggestion that she wasn’t afraid. She denied a suggestion that she and Fox had been merely engaging in “banter” in the emails and exchanging insults with one another.

An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) testified that he seized the four handguns that were concealed within a computer as well as 25 rounds of ammunition and seven magazines.

kfraser@postmedia.com

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