Fellow officers rethink support for cocaine user; Grewal convicted in air-rage assault
The Spectator
Tue 31 Aug 2004
Page: A3
Section: Local
Byline: Barbara Brown
Source: The Hamilton Spectator
Two Toronto police officers are having second thoughts about supporting a brother officer who was convicted in April of sexually assaulting a WestJet flight attendant.
The veteran officers testified they're concerned about appearing to endorse the past behaviour of Constable Amarjit Grewal, who admits to using cocaine and marijuana and to periodic blackouts brought on by severe alcoholism.
Constable Laurence Zimmerman, who has served 18 years with the Toronto Police Service, contacted Grewal's lawyers and the Hamilton Crown attorney's office to ask that his letter of character reference not be filed as an exhibit at Grewal's sentence hearing.
"It was meant to distance myself," Zimmerman said under cross-examination yesterday by assistant Crown attorney Katherine Livingstone. "I knew nothing about the cocaine use and I do not condone it."
Officer Paolo Martino, who retires today after 29 years of service, testified he wrote a glowing character reference because he wanted to encourage Grewal's rehabilitation and recovery from alcoholism. However, he did so without knowing the full extent of what happened on the Hamilton-bound WestJet flight from Edmonton on Aug. 27, 2002.
Grewal pleaded guilty in April to uttering threats to kill the crew and passengers, assaulting a flight attendant and sexually assaulting another. The woman endured several hours of abuse to protect others while the pilots searched for a place to land.
Martino said that after hearing evidence in court about the nature of the sexual assault and Grewal's admitted cocaine use, he no longer supported the convicted officer's aspirations to remain on the police force.
Dr. Joseph MacMillan, who specializes in the treatment of addiction disorders, was asked to assess Grewal for substance abuse after the officer showed up for work one day last October smelling of alcohol, which was a breach of his bail conditions.
Grewal had been in a residential program for treatment of his alcoholism at the Homewood Health Centre in Guelph. He was discharged from the private hospital in March 2003 but relapsed a short time later after attending a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Following Grewal's relapse, an occupational health physician retained by the Toronto Police Service requested a substance-abuse assessment be done by MacMillan.
MacMillan testified that he was told in a telephone conversation that the police service suspected Grewal was using cocaine, although the officer had denied this to his employer.
MacMillan said he was also advised that Police Chief Julian Fantino had issued a memo recommending termination for any officer known to have a cocaine problem.
MacMillan diagnosed Grewal as alcohol dependent but concluded he was not addicted to cocaine or marijuana.
The expert said he reported substance dependency but did not specifically cite the cocaine use.
Livingstone suggested to MacMillan that he did not mention the cocaine use because he knew it would be automatic grounds for Grewal's dismissal.
MacMillan replied he did not mention the cocaine use because most people cannot distinguish between drug use and drug dependency.
"I don't think it is required of me to indicate which drugs patients have tried and have used," he said.
The sentence hearing continues today before Ontario Court Justice Robert Weseloh.
bbrown@thespec.com
Officer gets jail time for sexual assault on Westjet flight
Penticton Herald
Thu 02 Sep 2004
Page: A8
Section: Canada
Byline:
Source: Canadian Press
HAMILTON (CP) -- A Toronto police officer who sexually assaulted a flight attendant and threatened to kill a planeload of passengers was stripped of his duties, suspended without pay and sentenced to jail time Wednesday.
Ontario Court Justice Robert Weseloh sentenced Const. Amarjit Singh Grewal to four months for sexual assault and three months for threatening death, to be served concurrently. The judge also sentenced Grewal to one day for assaulting another flight attendant.
The 15-year veteran officer of the Toronto Police Service also faces five Police Act charges, which will be dealt with through a tribunal after his sentence. It's likely Grewal will lose his job.
"We've taken a position that we have no place for them once they've been to (jail)," said Staff Insp. George Cowley of Toronto police's professional standards branch.
Grewal, 34, pleaded guilty to the charges in April. Court heard on the night of Aug. 27, 2002, he was drunk and boarded WestJet flight 659 from Edmonton to Hamilton.
About 30 minutes into the 3 1/2-hour flight, Grewal placed his right hand into the air like a gun and shouted, "You have no idea what I can do to all of these people on the plane. I could blow them away."
The flight attendant, who cannot be identified under a court order, tried to keep Grewal occupied and away from other passengers for more than two hours, court heard.
Grewal pushed her into a window seat, pressed up against her, and began to stroke her face while speaking in a foreign language.
He told her that he wanted to jump on her and have sex. He later touched her breast and put his hand down her pants into her underwear.
Weseloh said the woman, who continues to suffer from nightmares and post-traumatic stress syndrome, displayed "phenomenal courage."
She hasn't returned to her duties at WestJet and is in therapy.
Grewal was also given three years probation, must submit a DNA sample, and is barred from carrying firearms for 10 years.
He must take part in rehabilitation programs for anger management and substance abuse, and is not allowed to board an aircraft in Canada without approval from his parole officer.
