British soldier on trial for manslaughter in Toronto testifies he was defending himself

British soldier Craig Gibson spoke to a jury Wednesday through a thick Scottish accent, recalling his visit to Toronto in August 2023 which ended in tragedy when he got into a fight with Brett Sheffield, a stranger he met in a bar.

“I was certain he had a knife. I saw his hand go back and up, he took his jacket off, I was certain,” said Gibson, who testified he was acting in self-defence when he struck the 38-year-old business man from Winnipeg twice with his elbow to Sheffield’s head.

Gibson, who is on trial for manslaughter, has pleaded not guilty.

The strapping six-foot-three-inch corporal who testified he works for the reconnaissance platoon of the Fourth Battalion Royal Regiment of Scottish Highlanders said he came to Canada as the last minute to attend a reconnaissance patrol competition in Thunder Bay, hosted by the Canadian sister regiment.

It was a 70-kilometre trek over arduous terrain. Gibson said he placed second.

On Aug. 27, 2023, Gibson said he and about a dozen other British soldiers who had been competing in Thunder Bay stopped in Toronto for a two-day layover before returning to Scotland. On the 28th, they did touristy stuff including going by the Rogers Centre, where they learned the baseball team had a “match” that night. He testified they all bought Blue Jays merchandise before going back to the hotel to change.

Gibson, who was 28 at the time, said he paired his newly–purchased Hawaiian Blue Jays shirt and his Scottish kilt and went downtown. About 90 minutes later, he and a fellow soldier left the platoon and the two eventually ended up at Locals Only bar on King Street.

Gibson said when they arrived around 10 p.m., they met Sheffield and his group from Winnipeg, who were also in Toronto on business. Shortly after, Mr. Sheffield ordered a round of drinks for the bar.

Video surveillance shown in court captured Gibson drinking five shot of Jameson whisky in succession. Gibson explained he did it “just to be funny,” saying that growing up in Scotland, there wasn’t much to do.

“I started drinking in high school. It was regular to drink half a bottle of whisky.”

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Gibson testified he spent the next hour speaking with his colleague and a co-worker of Sheffield’s named Emily, whom he said he flirted with and said he got along well with all of Sheffield’s group.

After 11 p.m., Gibson said Sheffield approached him and put something under his nose.”I wasn’t sure what it was at the time. I could see it was a little glass vial. It looked like cocaine,” Gibson said.  After that, he testified Sheffield walked away.

“I told him, ‘I’m in the army. I don’t do drugs. Keep it away from me,'” Gibson said, adding Sheffield reacted by waving him off. “He said, ‘Relax, it’s only coke.'”

He said he was dancing with Emily after that and noticed Sheffield glancing over and noticed something was different and Sheffield’s mood had changed.

“I remember I went up to him a couple of times and said, ‘Bro, we’re here for a good time, not a long time’. In Scotland, if someone is annoyed about something, we say that expression. Normally it gets a laugh. It means ‘don’t stress'”.

Gibson testified at one point, he went up to Sheffield and put his arms around him and he said, “Hands off.” He also said he went up to a friend of Sheffield’s and said, “Your boss man just put coke in my face,” explaining to him it wasn’t proper and said the army conducts random drug tests. “I said if I told them a random man put cocaine in my face, it’s not going to fly.”

Moments later, Gibson said Sheffield motioned at him from the bar and went over and said, “What’s up?” saying that Sheffield told him he wanted to see him outside.

“I didn’t know where it was coming from. So I went back over to him and I remember saying, ‘What’s this about? Is this about the coke thing? Is this about me dancing with Emily?’ He responds, ‘You don’t know who I am. Mr. Sheffield then took off his overshirt and said, I’ll f-ing kill you.'”

Gibson testified he wasn’t really sure why he was getting threatened but said he baited Sheffield by walking to the door and saying, “Come outside and kill me.” Gibson said he thought it was bravado and just thought he was bluffing.

Gibson told court that Sheffield then pointed his finger at him. “I turned around, reading his lips and hearing threats. I remember seeing ‘stabbed’. Again, I’m thinking, he’s just upped his bluff.”

Gibson said he then turned around and said to Sheffield, “Let’s go, idiot,” to which Sheffield responded, “Now you’ve asked for it.”

Gibson testified because Sheffield mentioned the word “stabbed,” he looked at Sheffield’s right hand and remembered seeing him taking his jacket off.

“In Glasgow, in the U.K., stabbings are very common,” he said. “As a teen, I had a knife pulled on me. I thought Mr. Sheffield is one of these people. In Scotland,  we have NED’s, non-educated delinquents. I’m not saying Sheffield is a NED. But in Scotland, we have people who take off their jackets and access knives. I thought he took off his jacket to access his knife. That’s when his right hand went back and I thought he had a knife.”

Gibson testified he stepped in and was going to punch Sheffield but stepped in too far and used his forearm to knock him down. He said Sheffield was not going down so he tried again and pushed him because he thought he had a knife.

“He was bent down, I was holding him out and I believe people jumped in and he still wasn’t down,” Gibson said.

He added that he was holding him so Sheffield could not use the knife and said he looked dazed and was swaying.

Defence lawyer Adam Weisberg asked Gibson what happened once they were separated. He said he was asked to leave the bar and went outside with his colleague. His colleague tried to get back into the bar realizing he’d left his phone inside but neither could get back in.

“At this point, I had no idea he was hurt,” he said. “I was just defending myself.”

Gibson said a guy at the door of the bar threatened to knock him out if he went back in.

He testified he got into a fight with two patrons after one grabbed his kilt and groin area. Gibson said the security guard from the bar then threw him to the ground and when he woke up the bouncer was over his head.

“I was just being a jerk,” he said. “I had no idea Mr. Sheffield was in the state he was in, dying.”

Despite having consumed 14 to 15 drinks while at “Locals Only”, Gibson testified he was in control.

Sheffield was rushed to hospital where he died two days later from a ruptured artery in his neck which caused blunt force trauma.

The trial continues.