The appellants appealed a Small Claims Court decision awarding the respondent $10,000 in damages for false arrest, false imprisonment, and negligent investigation.
The respondent had been arrested for allegedly breaching a bail condition by speaking at a public demonstration.
The Divisional Court allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge erred by inappropriately using hindsight and conflating the test for negligence with the objective test for reasonable grounds for arrest.
The court held that the arresting officers had reasonable and probable grounds to arrest the respondent based on the information available to them at the time, and therefore met the standard of care.
