An employee has been convicted of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle after he drove towards his boss three times, “trying to scare him”.
The employee worked as a labourer in construction. His relationship deteriorated with his boss, leading to a physical altercation between them. After the altercation, the boss was standing on the sidewalk when the employee circled at least once, and perhaps two or three times, and attempted to strike or at least come very close to his boss with his car. He was driving quickly at a speed that appeared dangerous to other witnesses who observed the incident.
The court found that although the employee was “operating under some stress and confusion”, he was not merely trying to escape his boss. The employee’s assertion that he had no intention of hitting his boss was not a defence. In his statement to the police, the employee admitted that when he drove towards his boss, he was trying to scare him. That admission was enough to show mens rea, the “guilty mind” requirement for a criminal charge.
The court decided that driving on the sidewalk at some speed to try to scare someone was a “marked departure from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe”. A reasonable person would have been aware of the risk. The employee actually admitted at trial that driving on the sidewalk “was a mistake”.
The employee was therefore guilty of the criminal offence of dangerous driving.
R. v. Draid, 2016 BCSC 423 (CanLII)
