A BC Supreme Court judge in Williams Lake found a man was stabbed in the leg by someone named Tyler on Oct. 21, 2024 at a residence on the Anahim Reserve.
But Justice Ronald Tindale had reasonable doubt that it was the man charged, so he ruled Tyler Sampson Meldrum not guilty.
Meldrum, 42, was tried in late May on charges of assault with a weapon, assault with a weapon causing bodily harm and failure to comply with a probation order.
At the time of the incident, Meldrum was nearing the end of an 18-month probation order prohibiting him from possessing a criminal code-defined weapon.
Victim Timothy Solomon, also 42, testified that he woke up on a living room couch from a drunken blackout to hear someone say “he has a knife.” He used his legs to defend himself and push his female companion out of the way.
“Mr. Solomon testified that the accused stabbed him in the leg. Mr. Solomon knew the accused for 10 years and would see him around at parties and other places once or twice a month,” Tindale said in his May 29 oral verdict, published June 12. “Mr. Solomon testified that after he was stabbed in the leg, he jumped up and ran out of the residence to get away. He says the accused did not chase him.”
The woman took Solomon to a Red Cross station in Alexis and he was later taken by ambulance to hospital in Williams Lake.
Tindale found that Solomon’s identification of the accused was not reliable due to his consciousness and the brief, chaotic scene.
Moreover, the knife used in the assault was not produced as evidence and the police did not take any pictures of the crime scene. Nor was there any other evidence linking Meldrum to the assault.
“There is no question that Mr. Solomon was stabbed in the leg by an individual named Tyler that morning,” Tindale concluded. “After considering the totality of the evidence, the Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was that individual.”
