Tony Blais (Edmonton Sun) – An Edmonton man has filed a $150,000 lawsuit against the Attorney-General of Canada and an RCMP officer convicted of beating him while he was in police custody.
According to a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen’s Bench on Sept. 9, Andrew Clyburn, 33, is alleging he suffered “excruciating pain,” multiple injuries and “mental anguish and trauma” in the 2009 incident.
The lawsuit alleges the conduct of Const. Desmond Sandboe, 40, constituted a “flagrant abuse of his authority” and was “highhanded and malicious.”
It also suggests the Attorney-General is liable for Sandboe’s actions and says the department failed to adequately protect Clyburn notwithstanding it knew or should have known of the officer’s propensity to engage in unnecessary violence and abuse his authority.
Clyburn alleges he was arrested for being intoxicated in a public place on Sept. 13, 2009, and was transported to the RCMP detachment in Lac La Biche.
While being held in custody, Clyburn claims Sandboe launched a “vicious and unprovoked attack” on him during which the officer jumped on him, struck him repeatedly with a closed fist and forced his head to collide repeatedly with the pavement.
Clyburn alleges Sandboe then confined him inside a cell and attempted to intimidate him from making a complaint about the alleged assault.
He also alleges Sandboe continued to detain him without lawful grounds and laid a criminal charge against him for assaulting a peace officer despite having no reasonable or probable grounds. That charge was later dropped.
Clyburn also claims Sandboe “knowingly created a report which incorrectly depicted the events leading up to the assault” by Sandboe upon him.
As a result of the assault, Clyburn alleges he suffered numerous lacerations and abrasions to his head and face, a fractured nose and continues to suffer headaches.
A statement of defence has not yet been filed.
Statements of claim and statements of defence contain allegations which have not been proven in court.
Meanwhile, Sandboe was handed a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community, consisting of three months of house arrest followed by three months of a daily curfew, on April 13 in Edmonton’s provincial court after earlier pleading guilty to assault for the attack.
Judge Robert Philp said the “sustained beating” – which was captured on videotape – was aggravating because Sandboe was in a “position of trust and authority” and his actions “undermine public confidence in the police.”
Philp also slammed the Mountie for initially providing a version of events that “minimized” his actions.
The judge found it was mitigating that the Lac La Biche officer had pleaded guilty and was remorseful and cited a positive pre-sentence report and 11 letters of support.
Philp also ordered Sandboe to take counselling, after noting he had been under high levels of stress at the time of the assault as a result of a heavy workload and suffering from both physical and mental exhaustion.
In a victim impact statement, Clyburn wrote of being “terrified” by Sandboe and thinking he might die.
Sandboe currently remains suspended without pay and is facing an RCMP internal process.
Lac La Biche is 170 km northeast of Edmonton.
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