RCMP Constable Ordered to Pay $55,000 Following Wrongful Detention
Reasons for judgement were published today by the BC Supreme Court, Smithers Registry, ordering an RCMP constable and the crown to pay $55,000 in damages to a Plaintiff who was injured during a wrongful detention.
In today’s case (Joseph v Meier) the Plaintiff was shopping at a retail store when another woman shopping in the same area of the store put a scarf into her bag and then, when confronted, threw the scarf to the floor and fled. The plaintiff, who was elderly with limited mobility, continued shopping. The store manager mistakenly believed the two women were together and had the police called.
When the Defendant RCMP constable confronted the plaintiff she “refused to stop or provide information to him. She repeatedly told him that she had done nothing wrong and did not need to talk to him” . He took her to the ground and attempted to handcuff her while she resisted. The Plaintiff was injured in the altercation. In finding the Constable liable for false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery Madam Justice Brown provided the following reasons: