A former Thompson RCMP officer has been granted a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to assaulting an Indigenous man three years ago.
Const. Greg Oke was transferred out of Thompson as a result of the Sept. 12, 2018 incident, during which he repeatedly punched and then forcibly took down and handcuffed William Farrow while tryign to arrest an intoxicated woman outside the Thompson homeless shelter. He was also docked two days' pay by the force and designated as non-promotable for at least two years from December 2019 onwards.
If he completes the requirement of his sentence, including one year of supervised probation and 100 hours of community work, as well as paying a victim surcharge of $100 and court costs of $2, Oke will not have a criminal record as a result of his conviction. He must also not re-offend during the probationary period.
Provincial court Judge Murray Thompson noted that Oke had saved the court time by pleading guilty, which is rare for police officers charged with crimes, and that the incident seemed to be out of character for the officer, who was suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the incident.
At the time of the assault, Oke and his partner were attempting to arrest an intoxicated woman who was refusing to leave the porch area of the homeless shelter. Witnesses said Oke was being friendly to other bystanders but that Farrow was “talking s***,” calling police names and getting into Oke’s personal space. Farrow then spat at least once and Oke, believing the man had spat in his face, punched Farrow in the face three times, then grabbed the man’s arms, pulled them off the porch railing and put his arm around Farrow’s neck from behind to take him down to the ground, where Farrow was handcuffed and arrested for assaulting a police officer. Farrow was released the next morning with a small cut on the back of his head but did not remember what had happened and the charge of assaulting a police officer wad never formally laid.
Other witnesses said Farrow either spat on the ground or that some of his spit landed on the woman police were trying to arrest and on Oke’s partner’s leg
Court heard that Oke was working overtime in a detachment he described as understaffed and not participating in recreational activities to relieve stress at the time of the incident. He was also having difficulty sleeping because of memories and nightmares of incidents involving death and serious injury that he had been exposed to since joining Thompson RCMP as his first posting three years earlier. He was also experiencing irritability, anger, elevated anxiety and hyper-vigilance.
Oke has since been treated for PTSD and a psychological assessment found him a low risk to re-offend.
“I am satisfied that it is not contrary to the public interest to impose a sentence that will give him an opportunity to avoid the imposition of a criminal record,” Thompson wrote in his decision.
The Crown had been seeking a suspended sentence with 12 to 18 months' probation while Oke’s lawyers sought a conditional discharge with 12 months’ probation.
