Judge: Hidden video and audio recordings prove Ontario police officer committed criminal acts

“I hurt people… and then I make their cocaine fuckin appear…”

Durham Regional Police Constable James Ebdon threatens violence and to plant drugs on motorcycle gang associate.

by Donald Best

Durham Regional Police officer James Ebdon was caught in a hidden video / audio recording threatening to plant drugs and commit acts of violence against a member of the public. (You can watch and listen to the hidden recording at YouTube)

Some people might be inclined to excuse or ignore the incident because the officer threatened an associate of Hell’s Angel motorcycle gang member Harley Guindon. We cannot let the fact that the police officer was threatening a criminal associate to allay our personal and societal fear of such behaviour by police. Fabrication of evidence and perjury by police is a very dangerous and slippery slope, indeed.

In her decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Laura Bird wrote:

“The evidence establishes that Constable Ebdon committed several criminal offences in the course of his duties. He has no appreciation for the seriousness of his conduct and continues to patrol the streets of Durham. Conduct such as that exhibited by this officer has no place in our society and it must be condemned by the court.”

Quoted in the The Star

Once police or lawyers fabricate evidence and lie to the court, where does it stop?

It is true that many law enforcement officers have at one time or another (even if for only an instant) thought of planting or fabricating evidence to take down gang members or other serious criminals.

I know from my experience as a Toronto Police sergeant and internal investigator that a number of factors stop police officers from fabricating evidence or committing crimes to obtain evidence: commitment to our justice system, personal values and character, risk of getting caught and the high penalties if they are caught.

Justice Bird knows that allowing, excusing or ignoring this criminal behaviour by police officers will undermine our justice system, and so Her Honour correctly condemned the officer using the most robust language.

Ontario’s legal community soundly condemns police officers who perjure themselves before the courts, but it seems that a different standard applies to lawyers.

But what if, as in my personal case, recordings prove that Lorne Silver and Gerald Ranking (senior lawyers from two of Canada’s largest law firms) fabricated evidence and lied to the court to obtain my ‘in absentia’ conviction for contempt of court; but the courts refuse to listen to the recordings?  

What if the Law Society of Upper Canada knew, as they do in my personal case, that personnel from the Miller Thomson LLP law firm sent a series of anonymous threatening messages to my witnesses? What if the Law Society made no investigation, did not seize the computer evidence from Miller Thomson LLP and did not speak to any witnesses or suspects?

What happens when Ontario lawyers are caught fabricating evidence and lying to the courts?

When lawyers from large law firms were caught fabricating evidence and lying to the courts to win a civil case, one very senior civil lawyer summed up the reaction of Ontario’s legal profession when he advised me,

“All lawyers lie. Live with it. Get over it.”

Canadians and Canada’s justice system should not have to live with lying lawyers, nor should Canadians “Get over it”.

If the Law Society of Upper Canada cares to respond to this article or any articles on the DonaldBest.CA website, I will publish their unedited communications with the same prominence.