Ontario’s police watchdog says it is not currently investigating allegations that police officers assaulted a lawyer at an Oshawa, Ont., courthouse.
The Special Investigations Unit says it was notified of the incident by Durham regional police on Tuesday but has not invoked its mandate “at this time.”
The SIU says its jurisdiction is limited to incidents involving officers that result in serious injuries, death, allegations of sexual assault or an officer discharging their firearm at a person.
Get daily National news
A statement issued by Sudine Riley’s counsel alleges the defence lawyer was left bleeding and swollen after Durham police officers slammed her head into a desk in an interview room where she was working last Friday.
Neha Chugh says the officers put their knees on her client’s back and neck, then dragged her out of the room in handcuffs and took her to the cells in the courthouse basement.
- Judge rejects NCR defence for Toronto man found guilty of stabbing husband in 2021
- Bringing murder suspect back from India will not be quick, B.C. lawyer says
- Regina wife killer dies in Sask. Penitentiary weeks after life sentence
- Suspect in fatal stabbing outside Vancouver Starbucks tells victim’s family, ‘I’m really sorry’
She says Riley, who is Black, also had her head scarf ripped off and her skirt raised in the process.
Durham regional police say they are taking the allegations “with the utmost seriousness” and working to obtain all available evidence as they investigates the incident.
However, legal organizations including the Criminal Lawyers’ Association have called for an independent investigation into what happened, saying lawyers must be able to work safely in Ontario’s courthouses.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.