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Assault case against Sudbury constable begins today

The court case against a Greater Sudbury Police constable facing assault charges begins today. Back on Jan. 26, during a hearing at the Sudbury Courthouse, the court ruled a charge of assault was warranted against Const.
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With little chance of conviction, the Crown has withdrawn assault charges against Greater Sudbury Police officer Const. Christopher Labreche. File photo
The court case against a Greater Sudbury Police constable facing assault charges begins today.

Back on Jan. 26, during a hearing at the Sudbury Courthouse, the court ruled a charge of assault was warranted against Const. Christopher Labreche for slamming a suspect's head with enough force to break a glass window at police headquarters.

Tanner Currie, the 20-year-old Sudbury man injured in the incident, had been arrested on charges of public intoxication and resisting arrest, charges that were later dropped. He released video of the incident (which he received as part of the disclosure of evidence) publicly, which created quite a stir in December 2014.

In the video, the constable can be seen forcefully shoving Currie into window with enough force to break the glass. Currie said he suffered injuries from the incident.

Police said an internal investigation cleared Labreche, who is still on the job.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Sudbury Revolutionary Network has planned a march outside the Sudbury Courthouse this evening at 7:30 p.m.

In a news release, the group, which bills itself as anti-capitalist and anti-colonial, called on supporters to “bring flags, drums, signs, megaphones and torches.”

“Stand with us in rejecting false bourgeois 'justice,' and help to convene a Peoples’ Court outside the courthouse of the ruling class (where we clearly have no say),” the group said in its release. “Let’s begin to define a new justice based on the interests of the proletarian and popular masses, and build our capacity to enforce it as part of the revolutionary struggle to end all oppression and exploitation, for complete justice and total liberation!”

In its news release, the group argues that Sudbury police “disproportionately target First Nations people and especially women, racialized workers and youth, sex workers, the unemployed, and other oppressed groups.”

After Labreche was charged, Greater Sudbury Police issued the following statement:

As this matter is before the courts, the Greater Sudbury Police Service cannot make any further comments on this matter at this time.

As a police organization, we remain committed and accountable to our members and our community. We pride ourselves as being open and transparent, and will continue to cooperate with all systems of legislative oversight as the complete facts in issue are gathered for presentation in a judicial hearing.

At this stage, we are ethically bound not to comment any further in order not to prejudice any potential proceedings that may take place in the future.