Dan Ferguson (Surrey North Delta Leader) – A Surrey RCMP officer who slammed a handcuffed teenager into the hood of a police cruiser three years ago has been placed on probation for six months and ordered to perform 25 hours of community work service.
Const. Francois “Frank” Lambert was also ordered to pay a $50 victim impact surcharge fee by Surrey Provincial Court judge Donald Gardiner, who described the incident as a “momentary lapse of judgment.”
Lambert was convicted of assault in November of 2009, but he was not sentenced until June 9 of this year and the decision was not published on the provincial court website until Monday July 19.
Judge Gardiner granted Lambert a conditional discharge, which means the conviction will be purged after three years and Lambert will have no criminal record.
Lambert was charged with assault after a July 19, 2007 incident at Georges Vanier Elementary School in Surrey’s Newton district.
Another, senior officer filed a complaint after he witnessed Lambert escorting 18-year-old Karamjit Gill whose wrists were handcuffed behind his back.
When Gill said something, the officer said Lambert slammed the teenager onto the hood of the police cruiser hard enough to dent it.
“Not another f__ word,” Lambert said.
“I told you, not another word.”
The other officer could not hear what the prisoner had said, but described the tone as “friendly.”
At the trial, which was held in Chilliwack, not Surrey, Gill testified that he and some friends were celebrating his birthday that night.
They were drinking and playing basketball around 1 a.m. at the school when police arrived and arrested them, Gill said.
As Lambert was leading him away, Gill said he spoke to a friend, saying he was sorry because it was his party and he felt responsible.
That was when the officer threw him onto the hood of the car and swore at him, Gill testified.
Gill said he did not require medical attention and never filed a complaint.
Lambert admitted to swearing at Gill and throwing him on the car hood.
The Mountie testified that the young men at the school had been talking among themselves in Punjabi and he ordered them to either stop talking or talk in English.
He said he slammed Gill against his car because Gill spoke anyway and he believed the young man was planning to escape.
The judge rejected that claim, saying there was “no logical foundation to support that conclusion” since Gill was in handcuffs and compliant.
He added that Lambert did not have the lawful authority to forbid the young men from talking with each other.
After the charge was laid, Lambert went of his own volition to a psychologist who said the officer did not require anger management counselling.
Gill, the judge noted, displayed a “very forgiving attitude” about the incident, saying he “was upset for a day or two but then he sort of forgot about it.”
The 35-year-old Lambert remained on active duty in Surrey after the incident.
At the time of the incident, he was a member of the RCMP Violence Suppression Team.
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