Charges against Hamilton firefighter tossed over unreasonable delay
Fraud, money laundering and obstruction charges against Colin Grieve stayed by judge
Criminal charges against a Stoney Creek firefighter accused of misappropriating money from cancer-stricken colleagues have been dismissed by a Milton judge because the case took too long to reach trial.
Colin Grieve, one of hundreds of Hamilton firefighters who battled the notorious 1997 Plastimet blaze, and Paul Atkinson of Toronto, were each charged with fraud over $5,000, money laundering, and obstruction of justice on Mar. 7, 2017.
They were alleged to have misappropriated a significant amount of money over a number of years from families of firefighters they helped to settle workplace-related death and disability claims.
Their trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 13 in Milton court, but Grieve and Atkinson asked for a stay of proceedings because of an unreasonable delay in bringing the case to trial.
Superior Court Justice Erika Chozik relied upon the landmark 2016 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Barrett Jordan, who had argued his right to be tried in a reasonable time had been violated.
The Supreme Court decided that no more than 30 months should elapse between the laying of criminal charges and the start of a trial in cases having a preliminary hearing, or 18 months in cases with no preliminary hearing.
In the case of Grieve and Atkinson, the judge noted the gap between the laying of charges and the start of the trial would have been 35 months and one week.
Three months of that delay were attributed to the defendants, leaving a delay of 32 months and one week attributed to the Crown.
The Crown argued there were three periods of delays, each lasting about two months, that should also have been subtracted from the total — a delay from Aug. 17, 2017 when a judicial pretrial date was first available until Oct. 19, 2017 when it took place, a delay from Sept. 24, 2018 to Nov. 22, 2018 when the preliminary hearing had to be adjourned, and a delay from Nov. 23, 2018 to Jan. 14, 2019 when the judge hearing the preliminary inquiry was considering her decision.
The judge refused to allow any of the three delays to be deducted from the total.
“The Crown has failed to establish that the circumstances which caused the ceiling to be breached were genuinely outside its control,” Chozik stated in her decision.
“Indeed, I find that it was within the power of the Crown to anticipate or avoid each delay in question,” she added.
“The total delay in this case is therefore unreasonable.”
Neither Grieve nor Crown attorney Harutyun Apeal responded to requests for comment.
Grieve and Atkinson are still facing a $4 million civil lawsuit launched in 2016 by the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association (OPFFA). Grieve and Atkinson are countersuing the association for $12 million.
After his involvement with the Plastimet fire, Grieve became an advocate for firefighters stricken with work-related cancers.
Grieve and Atkinson eventually began working on behalf of the OPFFA to help firefighters, their widows and families negotiate claims with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
To continue funding the OPFFA’s WSIB claims advocacy program, the association drew up a voluntary letter of agreement asking successful claimants to make a contribution from their settlements to help the OPFFA represent others.
The OPFFA launched the lawsuit alleging that money intended to be donated by grateful families to the association was instead being “misappropriated” by Grieve and Atkinson.
The association alleges the two firefighters drew up their own “copycat” letter of agreement in an effort to “confuse” claimants into believing they were making donations to the OPFFA.
Instead, the association alleges, the money was diverted to Grieve, Atkinson and companies they created.
The OPFFA’s allegations, which have not been proven in court, include breach of trust, unlawful act conspiracy, inducing breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
The association took its concerns first to the Ontario Provincial Police but the OPP declined to lay charges. Halton Regional Police Service eventually laid the criminal charges against Grieve and Atkinson.
The two firefighters deny the OPFFA’s allegations and state in their defence that they never engaged “in any fraudulent scheme, conspiracy or subterfuge.”
“The allegations in the statement of claim to this effect are purposefully scandalous,” Grieve and Atkinson claim in their statement of defence.
Last summer, the OPFFA obtained a court injunction freezing the assets of Grieve and Atkinson while the civil case continues.