Spiel Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Trial begins for man accused of targeting Asian anglers November 27, 2009 05:26 PM JOE FANTAUZZI / www.yorkregion.com The trial of a Georgina man, at the centre of a prank played against innocent anglers that escalated into a life and death situation, began in a Newmarket court last week. Trevor Middleton has pleaded not guilty to four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, stemming from a September 2007 incident in Sutton. As many as 20 young people headed down to the docks at the Mossington Park "blue bridge" with the intention of pushing Asian anglers into Lake Simcoe, Crown prosecutor Amit Ghosh told the court in his opening statement Thursday. Mr. Ghosh also told the eight-woman, four-man jury that it will hear that the term "nip-tipping" is a local racist term for pushing Asian anglers into water. "The issue is bigger than this case," Avvy Go, of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, said in an interview. "There is something happening in this case that strikes a chord with many in our community. From the community perspective, we also want to make sure that whatever the outcome, that this is going to send a message that attacks of this nature are not acceptable." Following the "tipping", a struggle ensued and Mr. Middleton is accused of chasing a car full of the Asian anglers and repeatedly ramming their car before it careened out of control, crashed and ejected two passengers, leaving them seriously injured, the court heard. At about 2 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2007, Mr. Middleton and a group of friends were travelling around Sutton near Lake Simcoe in three pickup trucks, Mr. Ghosh said. "Many of them had been drinking alcohol, although Mr. Middleton would have consumed little or none himself," Mr. Ghosh told the jury. Mr. Middleton, in a Ford F-150 told the others to follow him and the convoy of pickups stopped at the blue bridge. The group moved to the docks and two anglers, who were part of a group of seven, were pushed into the water, Mr. Ghosh told the jury. Afterward, the entire group, with the exception of one of Mr. Middleton's friends, ran back to the pickups and drove away. His friend was involved in a fight with several of the anglers. Mr. Middleton is not facing charges for any pushing that happened on the docks. Mr. Middleton, who had turned his truck around, found his friend laying injured on the side of the road as some of the fisherman involved in the fight left in a Honda Civic, Mr. Ghosh said. The Ford truck collided with the Honda and the Civic sped away as Mr. Middleton gave chase, jurors heard. The jury will hear how the pickup truck repeatedly rammed the Civic from behind, Mr. Ghosh said. After a few minutes, the chase ended when the Civic slammed into a tree and sustained heavy damage. Two of the rear seat passengers were thrown from the Civic, court heard. Shayne Berwick was ejected from the Civic and collided with a tree, Mr. Ghosh said. Mr. Berwick suffered a fractured skull, leaving him in a coma for three months. "Perhaps more significantly, Mr. Berwick is now permanently brain damaged and can barely communicate verbally," Mr. Ghosh told the jury. "Two years later, he is still confined to a wheelchair." Charles Hogan was also thrown from the Civic and landed in the lake. He suffered head injuries, a gash to his right hand, whiplash from the collision and hypothermia. The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbouck Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 That disgusts me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocoda Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 That disgusts me! me too ...isnt there enough wrong things in this world without these kinds of acts.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfish1965 Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 There has to be enough there for a massive prison term for this punk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 clearly sounds racial to me, hang him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centerpinFTW Posted October 31, 2010 Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 What an idiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThisPlaceSucks Posted October 31, 2010 Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 what bothers me most is that after all he's done, he's pleading not guilty and wasting time and money on this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted November 1, 2010 Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 I’d consider the brain injury to be a life sentence for that unfortunate individual. Perhaps just as disturbing as the crime is the mild sentence handed to the scumbag http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/764837--anger-over-light-sentence-for-racist-attack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwan Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 i havent shore fished simcoe in years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsn Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 what bothers me most is that after all he's done, he's pleading not guilty and wasting time and money on this! I agree. How can anyone deliberately be so ruthless and then say "Not Guilty?" He shouldn't even be allowed to enter a plea if it was up to me.. dsn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baitrummer Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 It's sad to see this sort of stuff. I hope he gets what he deserves. I hear too many racial comments amoungst anglers.I hope one day this just won't be an issue anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekman Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 It,s a shame all they were doing was fishing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimace Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 This stuff sends shivers up my spine. The cowards outnumbered the guys fishing. Once the guys fishing knew they were cornered they stood up to them and fought. Once the cowards knew the fisherman were prepared to fight they ran away. Cowards. So this guy gets tough and brave once he is in his pick up truck against a civic. Very brave when he had an advantage, not so when the odds were almost equaled. The guy has brain damage. Imagine being his father or mother or him. The irreversable damage caused to him and his family from the result of a dispicable and diabolical act should not be taken lightly by the courts. Having said that, I hope he gets the fairest of trials and is punished to the maximum of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limeyangler Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 Unfortunately this kind of thing happens a lot. I used to listen to this kind of Bull from sea anglers in England. The urban myths abounded about the local "chinese" people taking over limits and under sized bass blah...blah..blah racist Bull..blah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 you realize that this thread is a year old... and the guy with the brain damage is a white Canadian and they assaulted more white guys then non white people that day...... any assault should be dealt with to the extreme but I believe that the racial card was hyped by the media in this case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Just as an update to this old thread, the guy got 2 years less a day. Likely he is already out. Not sure on that point though. I doubt anyone hasn't heard people bantering about tipping some asians into the water. I hear it even to this day. Its good to know now that there is much precident for people doing this. If you do it and you get caught your gonna go to jail. Maybe not as long as you should but your gonna get put away. I guess if you're lucky the asian you try and push in might be me and I won't call the cops, I'll just pull out a .45 and bust a cap in your ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedfish Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) I doubt anyone hasn't heard people bantering about tipping some asians into the water. I hear it even to this day. Its good to know now that there is much precident for people doing this. If you do it and you get caught your gonna go to jail. This case has nothing to do with tipping asians into the water. The prosecutor specifically said that the guy is not being charged for tipping, he is charged for ramming their car. So tipping is still ok. Oh and by the way. None of the other 19 people who participated in the tipping were charged either. Only the ramming dude. Really nice message to the community. Edited January 14, 2011 by Hedfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waki5 Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 the sad thing is that its happening everywhere. i was fishing in port hope one day and it was verbal abuse in this case. i couldn't believe the number of people that didn't say anything. i had enough and spoke up. the guy had a few choice words for me and left. people need to get a life. the funny thing is i believe the Chinese guy was working with a CO. he had bought a fish off a guy for 50 bucks and left. but 5 mins after the CO came straight up to the guy and charged him. i can't believe they are using Asians for this. with all the problems they've been having the MNR needs to stop. in order for this to stop we (anglers) need to step up to the plate and put this people in there place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) This case has nothing to do with tipping asians into the water. The prosecutor specifically said that the guy is not being charged for tipping, he is charged for ramming their car. So tipping is still ok. Oh and by the way. None of the other 19 people who participated in the tipping were charged either. Only the ramming dude. Really nice message to the community. the guy he rammed and is almost brain dead is a white guy and they pushed more white people into the water then they did other people it is being blown out of proportion by the media Edited January 21, 2011 by Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattones Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Everyone has a right to fish or hunt. Who cares if they or parents are from another Country. They are still humans like you and I. I hope they get more then a slap on a wrist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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