A B.C. Supreme Court Justice found a McBride man guilty of uttering a threat against an adversary prior to ending up on the wrong side of a baseball bat during a backyard confrontation.
Justice Ron Tindale also found Thomas Michael Ryan acted like a "complete fool" on the night of Sept. 22, 2014, but found him not guilty of the more serious charges of assault causing bodily harm and break and enter and committing an indictable offence.
According to the judge's summary of the testimony, it all began in the pub at the McBride Hotel.
It was a Sunday evening, the pub offered free pool on that day and Ryan and his son Custin were there as were Wayne Lewis and Derek MacLean.
For reasons not entirely clear - possibly because of an argument in the weeks prior - Ryan approached Lewis and asked him if he was MacLean and said that he needed a whooping.
In response, Lewis told Ryan that MacLean was not bothering anyone and to leave him alone. Ryan, in turn, said "maybe you need a whooping" and shoved Lewis.
A pub employee intervened and told Ryan to leave and he did.
Shortly after, the pub was closed for the night and Lewis and MacLean spoke with Custin Ryan and another man who was a friend of the Ryans.
It ended with the parties shaking hands and going their separate ways.
It didn't end there, however.
Sometime later, the Ryans and three other men showed up at Lewis' McBride Crescent home.
Lewis, who received an advanced warning from his spouse after she encountered the group while driving a friend home, came out armed with the bat while MacLean wielded a pool cue.
A scuffle ensued, ending with both Lewis and Thomas Ryan on the ground.
Two RCMP officers who happened to be living across the street, heard the commotion and went to investigate.
One of them found a broken bat and a broken pool cue and noticed a lump on Thomas Ryan's forehead.
He was taken to hospital for treatment and later arrested, as was Custin Ryan and two of the other men who had gone with them to Lewis' home.
One of the officers testified he was going to release Thomas Ryan from cells shortly before 5 a.m. later that morning but held off because he was too intoxicated and belligerent.
Lewis denied hitting Ryan with the bat but Tindale found otherwise.
According to testimony, Lewis told his son later that day he had hit someone in the head with a bat and a neighbour heard a man yell something to the effect that "you hit my father or dad in the head with a baseball bat."
And one of the other men testified he saw Lewis with the bat in his hand, turned away momentarily, heard a thud and turned back to find Thomas Ryan lying on the ground.
Lewis also testified that he was angry, Tindale noted, and chose to go outside to confront the group rather than stay inside, lock the door and call the police.
Tindale's conclusion that Thomas Ryan was hit with the bat played a significant role in the decision to find him not guilty of the more serious charges.
Although Thomas Ryan clearly went to Lewis' home looking for a fight, Tindale found he was rendered incapable of carrying out the attack when he was hit with the baseball bat.
Tindale also had reasonable doubt as to whether Ryan charged, hit, kicked or made any gestures towards Lewis before he was struck.
"In my view, the fact that
Mr. Lewis hit Thomas Ryan in the head with a baseball bat significantly changes the dynamics of what occurred on that evening," Tindale said.
As for Custin Ryan, Tindale agreed with the position that he was acting as the peacemaker and intervened only in defence of his father.
"While Custin Ryan accompanied Thomas Ryan to have his back, this was for the purpose of keeping his father out of trouble, who was acting like a complete fool that evening," Tindale said.
The verdict was reached April 13 following a trial held over four days the same week and Ryan was subsequently fined $500 plus a $150 victim surcharge.
The full decision is posted with this story at pgcitizen.ca.
