A B.C. Supreme Court judge has awarded nominal damages to a woman who claimed police used excessive force against her in a 2015 brawl in downtown Vancouver.
In a Sept. 19 decision, Justice Bruce Elwood dismissed all but one of Ayisha Sidhu’s claims against the City of Vancouver and an unnamed John Doe police officer.
Elwood said Sidhu was injured during a street fight outside a nightclub in the Granville Street entertainment district. Her nose was broken.
He ruled the use of force was justified in the situation.
The fight was started by an unidentified woman. Sidhu became involved when she came to the defence of a friend.
Sidhu alleges that she was injured by a police officer.
She alleged battery against two Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers who responded to the fight and detained her.
Elwood said the June 21, 2015 fight and Sidhu’s detention were captured by closed-circuit security cameras.
“The entire incident took place in less than a minute, more than nine years ago. The scene was very chaotic, with multiple altercations occurring simultaneously,” Elwood said. “The CCTV footage provides remarkable video evidence of what happened, except for brief, but factually significant, moments when the interactions between Ms. Sidhu and the police officers are partially blocked from view.”
He said the city acknowledged the VPD officers used unwanted force on Sidhu. But, it argued, Sidhu had not met her onus of proving on a balance of probabilities that the actions of either officer were the cause of her injuries.
And, the city argued, the officers used force that was lawful, reasonable and justified under the Criminal Code of Canada.
The fight
The fight and Sidhu’s detention occurred when Sidhu was on a night out with two friends.
Sidhu and her friends, Nimi Birk and Aman Mattu, ate dinner at a restaurant in Coal Harbour and then went to the Aura Nightclub on Granville Street.
“While in the Aura, they were hassled by a male patron,” Elwood said. “Another male patron invited them to join his group in a booth. Once in the booth, a woman at the table began making gestures for them to leave. When they stayed, the woman began throwing ice at them.
“Ms. Birk and Ms. Mattu responded by throwing drinks at the woman,” Elwood said.
Sidhu and her friends left the Aura quickly and crossed Granville Street and began walking north on the west sidewalk, heading toward the Cabana Lounge nightclub.
The woman from the Aura followed them out and across the street.
The woman approached Sidhu and her friends rapidly from behind and attacked Birk, grabbing a hold of her hair. Sidhu turned to the woman and grabbed hold of her, pulling her off of Birk.
“A melee rapidly develops,” Elwood said. “Three police officers move in quickly.”
The woman and Sidhu emerged from the melee fighting, with the woman thrown to the ground with Sidhu throwing punches at her. One officer let go of Mattu and told Sidhu to stop fighting. She testified she did not comply as she was defending herself. As the officer pulled Sidhu up, the women continued kicking at each other.
When the women let go of each other, the officer lost balance and dropped Sidhu. The women resumed fighting.
“They rotate and end up facing one another in a seated position, kicking and pulling at each other’s hair,” Elwood said.
An officer managed to separate the women. As he struggled to gain control of Sidhu, Elwood said, the officer testified he needed to get her into a position where she could be controlled.
However, the move used was not successful and Sidhu landed face down.
“Ms. Sidhu testified that her face hit the concrete sidewalk and she felt her nose break and blood begin to flow,” Elwood said.
The officer testified he did not know whether her face hit the ground, but he did not intend to push her face to the ground, only to hold her head down.
The officer led Sidhu away from the group. However, she soon returned.
The officer testified he feared she was going to begin fighting again while she said she wanted medical attention. He handcuffed her. When she began yelling and swearing at bystanders, she was handcuffed and put in a police wagon. She testified she told the officer another officer had thrown her to the ground and that her nose was broken.
The officer disagreed she had said that.
Sidhu was taken to St. Paul’s Hospital but the handcuffs were kept on as police believed she might breach the peace again. After seeing medical staff, police released Sidhu. She left the hospital without being treated.
Soon after, Sidhu went to Peace Arch Hospital and was treated for the broken nose. She sought $62,743 in damages.
However, Elwood said, while Sidhu “was regrettably injured by one of the officers, all of her claims, except for one minor allegation concerning the use of handcuffs in a hospital, must be dismissed because the use of force was justified.”
