A Prince George man has been ordered to pay more than $185,000 to a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) boat mechanic he severely assaulted at the Mosquito Creek Marina.
The incident happened in March 2022, according to civil court ruling from B.C. Supreme Court released on Wednesday.
Michael Nahanee, 54, had been celebrating a friend’s birthday inside a repair shop at the marina where he worked in the evening hours after operating the marina’s boat lift during the day.
Later in the night, John Davidson, also known as Jonathan Marcus Davidson, came to the shop looking for Nahanee’s boss. Davidson had opened a welding business at the marina a short time before.
“Without warning, Mr. Davidson physically assaulted Mr. Nahanee by punching him in the right side of his head. The force of the punch caused Mr. Nahanee to fall to the floor. He attempted to defend himself by blocking his face. He felt Mr. Davidson kick him and then he lost consciousness. Mr. Nahanee testified that when he woke up, he was in the hospital,” Justice Judith E. Hoffman wrote in her ruling.
Afterwards, while Nahanee was lying bloodied on the floor, Davidson shot video footage of him with his phone and shared it with others, the ruling notes. Nahanee remained in hospital for three days.
Davidson was initially charged with assault, however the Crown did not pursue the Criminal Code charge and instead, obtained a peace bond barring Davidson from having any contact with Nahanee, according to the court documents.
Nahanee filed a civil claim against Davidson who, despite being served with the court documents, never filed a response and was deemed to have admitted to facts as laid out in the suit, the ruling states.
It took Nahanee six weeks to recover well enough to return to work, and even then, only with lighter duties due to the pain he was still experiencing.
At trial, a medical doctor testified that Nahanee suffered a mild concussion, a lip contusion, a possible rib fracture or soft tissue injury to a previously injured area as well as an aggravation of pre-existing back and neck pain.
Apart from the physical injures, the assault affected Nahanee’s ability to conduct a normal social life, impacting him emotionally, Hoffman acknowledged. He avoided going out in public for fear or running into Davidson. It wasn’t until he learned a year later that Davidson had relocated to Prince George that he felt safe again.
“I accept that Mr. Nahanee suffered significant distress, loss of confidence and hypervigilance as a result of the assault. Mr. Nahanee was on edge and paranoid when he went back to work as he was uncertain if Mr. Davidson was still in North Vancouver, even though the owners of the marina had evicted Mr. Davidson from the property,” the judge wrote. “The significant emotional impact of the incident on Mr. Nahanee was apparent when he gave evidence.”
To compensate Nahanee for his lost wages, medical costs as well as physical and emotional injuries, Hoffman ordered Davidson to pay just over $180,000 to Nahanee.
She also made a point of awarding punitive damages, which are intended not as compensation but as condemnation of a defendants’ behaviour.
“Mr. Davidson’s vicious and entirely unprovoked assault on Mr. Nahanee is reprehensible conduct deserving of specific rebuke. Thus far, this conduct has gone unpunished as criminal charges against Mr. Davidson were not proceeded with. This type of violence must be deterred and denounced,” she wrote, ordering an another $5,000.
Additionally, Davidson must cover Nahanee’s legal bills incurred over the trial.
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