2013-05-27 

G20 police officer in Toronto court today on assault charges

Const. Glenn Weddell charged with assault, assault causing bodily harm

The first trial of a Toronto police officer criminally charged in the wake of the G20 protests in 2010 is set to start today.

Const. Glenn Weddell is charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Dorian Barton said his arm was broken by officers who arrested him during a G20 protest nearly three years ago.

Civilian witnesses told Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit that Barton, who was taking pictures of mounted police officers, was struck with a riot shield and then hit with a baton after he fell to the ground.

The independent civilian agency opened and closed the case twice, after the officers involved couldn’t be identified, but almost a year after the G20, Toronto police gave the SIU a name of a person who identified a “subject officer.”

Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, the other officer facing charges stemming from the G20, is set to go to trial next week on two counts of assault with a weapon.