Two found guilty in attack on off-duty cop

Jamie Gilmar "was looking for a fight" the night he attacked an off-duty police officer in the parking lot of a Sault Ste. Marie hockey arena, a judge decided Tuesday. 

Ontario Court Justice Jean-Gilles Lebel rejected the 31-year-old's contention that he was acting in self-defence when he beat up Kevin Yun outside the Pee Wee Arena on Nov. 13, 2013.

In a decision he delivered by a video link, the North Bay judge found Gilmar guilty of assault causing bodily harm for the attack on Yun, an officer with the Sault detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Lebel found a co-accused Corey St. Louis, 32, not guilty of the same charge, but guilty of the lesser, included offence of assault.

The two men will return to court May 15 for sentencing.

When he rejected Gilmar's evidence, Lebel said "my impression is Mr. Gilmar hates police officers" and "has no respect for them."

During a trial earlier this year, Lebel heard testimony from numerous witnesses, including Yun, the accused and the owner of the bar at the Northern Avenue arena.

The court also viewed video from the arena's security cameras, which Lebel said clearly showed Gilmar was intoxicated as he stumbled down the stairs from the bar, bouncing off walls.

Gilmar was rude, obnoxious and profane, and was described by witnesses as extremely angry, upset and looking for a fight, the judge noted.

It was shortly after midnight, when one of the witnesses went outside of the arena after a man indicated two guys had jumped one guy.

He observed Yun on his hands and knees, with Gilmar holding him in a headlock.

Blood was running down Yun's face and there was a lot of blood on the ground.

Yun testified that he was leaving the arena after playing hockey, when he heard someone call his name and saw the person running towards him.

He said he dropped his hockey bag, grabbed Gilmar by the arm and asked him to settle down.

Gilmar demanded to know if he remembered him.

Yun said they wrestled, and he felt something hit the side of his face and someone kicked him in the abdomen.

He indicated that he had no idea how he ended up on the ground or if he had hit his head on a post but said he was cross-eyed and disoriented after he was hit.

Yun's blood was found on Gilmar's hands and clothing and on St. Louis' boot.

Lebel rejected St. Louis' evidence that he had come to Gilmar's aid, noting the confrontation was over, and Yun was on his knees and presented no danger when St. Louis approached him.

He concluded that Yun wasn't the aggressor that night.

The judge said when Gilmar testified he "went out off his way" to describe Yun as a "raging, out of control animal."

Gilmar plays a lot of hockey and appeared to know how to handle himself in a fight, Lebel said.

He used his weight against the larger Yun, flipped him over, causing Yun's head to come into contact with the pole, Lebel concluded.

There's "no air of reality to his assertion that he was acting in self-defence."