A former Calgary police officer has been cleared of all charges after allegations of harassment involving a Calgary couple while he was on the job.
A trial was set to begin Thursday in Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary against Denis McHugh on seven criminal charges, including break and enter, obstruction of justice and fraudulently searching through police records. However, the Crown issued a stay of proceedings on the basis of evidentiary issues.
Defence lawyer Alain Hepner said he and his client were prepared to argue the case and isn’t frustrated it took until the day of the trial to have the matter resolved.
“As much as we’re ready, a stay of proceedings is akin to a withdrawal of charges,” Hepner said. “The client, I think, should be and, I think, is pleased.”
Last summer after a two-day preliminary inquiry, a provincial court judge also dropped four other charges against McHugh: kidnapping, forcible entry and two counts of breach of trust.
The charges had stemmed from two incidents, one in June 2015, the other in January 2016.
In the first instance, a woman was stopped for a traffic offence and was issued a ticket and had her vehicle towed. The officer offered to drive the woman to her northeast home.
She alleged the drive took three-and-a-half hours and that she was put into the back of a locked, marked police vehicle.
The second instance involved the woman and her boyfriend driving home, when the woman alleged the same officer approached them in his police cruiser. She said she went inside her home and police alleged McHugh told the woman’s boyfriend to stay in the vehicle while he entered the home without permission or legal authority to do so.
An investigation also alleged the 36-year-old was accessing the Calgary Police Service computer databases to obtain information about the couple between July 2015 and January 2016.
McHugh had been an officer with Calgary police for eight years but resigned.
Hepner said it’s been a tough couple of years for his client.
“That’s always the problem when professionals are charged with offences, the media stories are really damaging. It was really hard on him, publicity on a policeman or ex-policeman is very difficult.”
The former officer now lives in Eastern Canada.
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