Judge rips police over failure to investigate harassment claims in Corner Brook case

A provincial court judge has issued a stern warning to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to “rethink their approach” when it comes to dealing with complaints of threats and harassment in intimate partner relationships.

Judge Wayne Gorman granted a peace bond earlier this month to a young woman from Corner Brook. Her family had contacted the police on three separate occasions to report their daughter was being harassed by her ex-boyfriend.

“Rather than conducting an investigation, the police recommended that a peace bond be obtained,” Gorman wrote. “Unfortunately, this is not unusual.”

The judge referenced another case he presided over in 2023, in which a son threatened to burn down his mother’s house. Again, instead of conducting an investigation and laying charges, police recommended she take her son to court to obtain a peace bond.

“The police in this area too commonly suggest it to complainants as an alternative to their intervention,” Gorman wrote in 2023. “This case illustrates why they should stop doing so.”

In the most recent case, Gorman said the advice given by police — to take her ex to court — could have placed the young woman at significant risk of harm.

“Whenever the police receive a complaint involving an allegation that a present or former intimate partner is acting in a harassing or threatening [manner], it should be fully investigated.  This should occur, regardless of the age of the complainant or the former partner. Too many women have been murdered in such circumstances for anything less to be acceptable,” he wrote.

While this young woman had a lawyer, Gorman said vulnerable women of limited means can’t afford to hire one and Legal Aid won’t represent them on peace bond applications. That leaves them on their own to take people they fear to court.

“They have been placed in an untenable and potentially life-threatening position. If this case constitutes the typical reaction of the police to complaints of threatening intimate partner behaviour, then they need to rethink their approach.”

CBC News requested comment from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary on Friday morning. A response has not been received as of publishing time.

Violence prevention group not shocked

Olivia Lynch, executive director of Violence Prevention Avalon East, said she wasn’t shocked by what she read in the judge’s decision.

She said it’s common for women to show up at their organization to seek guidance after “a lack of intervention” by the police.

“That is pretty much the status quo,” she told CBC News on Friday. “While I can appreciate there may be staffing issues or resource issues for the RNC, that is no excuse for women facing some of the most extreme times of their life.”

Lynch is also part of an emergency committee called Act Now: IPV Reform NL, which came together after a St. John’s woman was allegedly murdered by an ex-partner after she went to police with allegations of abuse.

The group has spent nearly two years researching the problems across multiple public systems that contributed to her death, and the plight facing other women at risk. Lynch said they’ve found “the strains that we’re facing in our system are not universal across Canada,” and that Newfoundland and Labrador is lacking in several areas.

They’ve called for better evidence-based tools and educational resources to be provided to police officers and the courts when determining risk and coming up with action plans for people facing violent or dangerous situations.

Act Now has also called for Legal Aid to assist people in the peace bond process. When one party decides to contest a peace bond, the case goes to trial — as it did for the young woman in Corner Brook.

“You want to be represented adequately. You don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars potentially for a lawyer for something that, at max, can last for up to 12 months as a peace bond would.”

While she wasn’t shocked by the reasons give by Gorman, Lynch said she was pleasantly surprised to see them called out by the court.

“I think it really acknowledges people that have experienced violence and it highlights the strain we have on our judicial system right now.”

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