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Judge acquits constables in incident with police van suit writer Two Regional Police constables have been acquit ted on charges of discreditable conduct and neglect of duty In connection with alleged mist reatment of prisoners being transported to Metro West Detention Centre August Constables Swanlnat 39 and Arnold Vanclief were found not In connection with allegations by a dozen prisoners that the two constables had driven the van Tin onto with tr heater on In spite of temperatu res in excess of degrees that day The prisoners also cd the officers of fastening their handcuffs too tight and of deliberately driving in an erratic manner to cause the prisoners discomfort Mi NTS fn his decision Chief County Court Judge William Colter said there I sufficient evidence to convince him that what be termed the at ion of small misjudgements on the part of the tuo officers has brought discredit upon the reputation of the Region Police force or a conviction of neglect of duly as major offence None of the allegations of the prisoners about the turning on of the heat the fastening of the handcuffs and the deliberate braking of the van were proven beyond a reasonable probabill tv Judge Colter said The trial lasted seven and a half days including the arguments and esses appeared during the proceedings William natd Q C acted on behalf of ihotwoconstabtes with Doug las appear for commission In giving his reasons for his decision Judge Colter said After the event it is always possible to look back and find courses of action preferable to those aitually followed How ever he said in view of the serious nature of the charges against the two officers the case should have been based upon serious and important events rather than on a numb er of small Incidents gleaned day conduct under stress Judge Colter said the resent ment of the Inmates obviously began at the Milton courthouse where they were appearing at hearings In provincial court when their tobacco and cigar and other personal bel were taken away from them and the hostility rapidly thereafter The judge said thai he was convinced that the Inmates honestly believed the heater was on in the van during the return trip to Toronto but that he could not find a strong that the constables ad turned it on He said that because of the way the heating system was set up the inmates could easily receive the impre ssion that the heater was on when this wok not the case When it came to the sudden braking of the van however the judge was more doubtful about the officers conduct Vanclief level of intellig did not particularly imp ress me and I can Image him having a little fun with these smart alec passengers in the van by shaking them up a bit with he brakes the judge said He also said Constable Vanclief s of pumping the brakes of the van is the normal way to chicle Judge Colter said he blame the constables for shut ting the communications win between the front ifler he heard testimony that the prisoners veiled racial insults at Con I ableSuaminalhan from Sri Lanka and spat at the two officers through the window Mr said that the a jacket over the communications window and the fact that the two officers kept the window closed for the duntlon of the trip was a neglect of because the officers were not aware opening or closing the window would have no effect on the ventilation in the back of the van as was established in testimony from Professor A Mian Jurist- Colter said it was from All test in thai the tiling system In the van the only van available for use in Hills Milton was very and unrdiable According to from Professor and other maintenance people who had worked oil the van the faulty system could deliver heat to the rear section of the von will out anyone turning on the becuast of the way the wis constructed OS 1 SI Even not taking the possibil of the heater being on into the judge with the number of people in a small tnclosed space particu larly prisoners engaged in such physical activity as rock the van back and forth and kicking at the doors to get some air the temperature in the back of the van would rapidly become uncomforla One of the inmitcs Griff Branch who could not be located to testify at the hearing fainted just before the van arrived at Metro West Detent Judge Colter said he had trouble with the inmates alio gallons that their complaints about the heal in the back of the van were completely by the two officers However he said it Is cult to a belter course for the constables to lake than to proceed to he detention centre The pounding on the rtar of the in and the shouted complaints apparently begin until the van was past the point In the trip Because there were among the inmates in the van four who had successfully escaped from Maplehurst Detention Centre the Judge sold once van had passed the half way point of the trip It was rather than slopping on Highway 401 let the prisoners gel some air The judge also mentioned that the constables have Interpreted the prisoners shouts as part of a plan to enable the four escapees to try again the had informed by their superiors a warning had been received from another force that one of the Inmates might attempt an escape with a gun smuggled to him at the court house during the course of the day Board postpones mileage increase The Halton board of educat ton referred a motion to incre ase the mileage allowance of its employees to the board finance committee Tor discuss ion The motion suggested that the mileage allowance for board employees which inclu des trustees who use their own cars on board business be Increased by onehalf cent for the first miles from 22 cents to cents and by two cents from 16 cents a mile to 18 cents thereafter The recommendation by su perintendent of finance Bruce almost t receive a mover and a seconder in which case the proposal would not have been discussed or voted on Mr said the just a matter of trying to keep mileage payments In line with costs ESTIMATED INCREASE The estimated Increase over the amount budgeted for this purpose last year Is eight per cent or about Hills trustee Barry Shepherd said that as a mem of the board finance com he had been involved in lengthy discussions over items calling for an expenditure of less than and he said be was unable to support the proposal The board voted to refer the recommendations to the flnan committee for Hills other trustee Betty fisher said alter the meeting that she hoped the finance committee would give some consideration to the fact that the members he board who live further away the trustees from the norlhcropartofthcrcgion are being In essence penalized because of where they live Because the trustees In the north have a longer distance to travel get to the board office they reach the 000- mile mark more quickly than trustees in the south and are thereafter paid a lesser rate Mrs Fisher said she doesn support an increase of the present mileage rate which she believes is quite adequate but she said she would like the finance commit tee to look into this seeming Inequity BROWNIE ENROLLMENT of new members was pari of the Thinking Week celebrations for 1st Glen William Pack last week New members are front row from the left Jennifer Good fellow Jennifer Campbell and Karen Back row from left Stephanie Little Julie and Herald photo Business association gets knuckles rapped A representation to the Com millee of Adjustment concern a re zoning application has Georgetown Busi ness and Professional Assoc a lion a rapon the knuckles from Its sponsor the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce II was learned at the group s recent meeting hat Chamber of Commerce president George Gray felt the group had exceeded its mandate by going to the Committee of Adjust menls Jan meeting and asking lhat restrictions of be put on the amount of retail space which a com business may operate in an Industrial area Association man Mux ray Law on said that ho made no objection to an cation for a minor var which would allow George and Mar garct How it owners of Alad Centre needs money The future of successful and widely respect North Contact ire has been jeopardized by that have led the provincial government cancel worth of an support funds The Conlncl Centre is as a result appealing to members lie public as well as local commerce and industry for donations lo cover the loss so that the centre can continue its valuable service A spokesmen for ihe fivc- centre explained lhat Ihe government has decided the based opera does not qualify as an information centre because of its work In responding to tress calls Grants to tailing a year would be centre officials were told unless Contact Centre devoted itself the provision of information only Local officials maintain answering distress calls con siltutcs the more important and valuable aspect of the centres work spokesman reported and have withdrawn their application Area residents wishing to assist the Contact Centre in continuing its work on the community behalf can for ward to its directors Post Office Box in din Lighting to use their property as a retail outlet What hehas asked on of the association was some of restriction be on the amount of retail space a business can have in an zone NO WAV There is no way business men in a commercial zone paying commercial zone taxes can compete with a merchant paying industrial zone taxes he said Thus members of the association list unnecessary re zoning or industrial land into commercial land as number one priority problem lo deal with It was for reason that he made pre on the associations behalf Mr Lawtonsaid Mr Gray however feels that group has exceeded their mandate and thus plans to debale whether the association should remain an autonomous body under the Chamber or an separate entity This is scheduled to happen at next board of director meeting in early March During association meeting at Hie North Ha Hon Golf and Country Club Thurs day evening vicechairman Rick West s Jon letter of resignation was read and Mr West said he was ap pointed the Committee of Adjustment the beginning or the year and the Jan meeting was its first since he became member He wrote his letter of resignation when he discovered that a possible conflict of interest could arise due to his position on association executive I resigned from execu live he said but as a member of town s business community I certainly not going to stop attending asso ciation meetings Mr West is also a director of Chamber of Commerce and was selected as he person between the chamber of the association when it was set up in November Johns Auto Restoration Antiques Classics and Sports Cars Corvettes Convertibles restored Col JOHN WHITESIDE 519 8339495 St Erin CROIXROUGE Toujour prat a lo foods a GEORGETOWN ot DISTRICT IE MARS ofin do dot Reg Feb 28 March SPECIAL Haddock Chips Now Just FISH ONLY HAVt COD SOU HICKS Fish Chips Moore Park FINAL CLEARANCE The following items are now tiaasa Limited Quantities Broken sizes Mens WINTER OUTERWEAR Mens SWEATERS SKI JACKETS Ladies LOUNGEWEAR Ladies SPORTSWEAR Childrens OUTERWEAR Girls DRESSES Many other items Greatly Reduced SILVERS