C. Parry

The appellants appealed a small claims court decision dismissing their claim for damages arising from their detention and search by police officers.

The officers were investigating a break and enter and detained the appellants as they walked past the scene.

The Superior Court of Justice allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge committed a palpable and overriding error in concluding there were reasonable grounds for investigative detention.

The court also found the appellants were de facto arrested, not merely detained.

However, the court upheld the finding that the search for weapons was reasonable.

The appellants were each awarded $500 in damages for false arrest and imprisonment.

The appellant appealed his conviction for driving while disqualified.

He argued that the Crown could not rely on a provincial license suspension to prove disqualification because he had not been informed of the penal consequences of driving while disqualified, as required by section 260(1) of the Criminal Code for court-ordered prohibitions.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the appeal, holding that the notice requirements in section 260(1) apply only to court-ordered prohibitions under section 259(5)(a) and do not apply when the Crown proves disqualification via a provincial suspension under section 259(5)(b).