Doc won’t soon get day in court

One of Penticton’s longest-running legal dramas appears to be at least another 15 months away from a conclusion.

Two civil cases involving Gregory Nield, who attacked a doctor inside the psychiatric ward at Penticton Regional Hospital nearly six years ago, have now been scheduled for trial Oct. 4, 2021, in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna.

The starting date of what’s expected to be a 40day trial in front of a jury was fixed July 23. It’s the third time the matter has been set down for trial, after dates in June 2019 and September 2020 were aborted.

Nield’s victim, Dr. Rajeev Sheoran, is suing both Nield and the Interior Health Authority for injuries he suffered in the attack. Nield is counter-suing both Sheoran and the Interior Health Authority for damages arising from what he claims was unlawful imprisonment.

Sheoran filed his lawsuit in 2016 and Nield filed his in 2017.

In the meantime, Nield has gotten clear of a criminal charge that arose from the attack.

His second trial on one count of aggravated assault was slated to take place in February 2020 in Penticton, but was called off when the Crown stayed the charge without explanation.

The retrial was granted in January 2019, when the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned an April 2017 conviction that carried with it a sentence of 30 months’ probation.

The appeal court found the trial judge improperly excluded some evidence that may have allowed Nield’s lawyer to establish the defence of automatism and show a deterioration in his client’s condition while at PRH.

Nield’s original trial heard the attack on Sheoran inside a private interview room left the psychiatrist with a broken jaw and teeth, brain damage and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of multiple punches to his head.

The trial heard testimony from nurses, who said Nield, a decorated jiu-jitsu fighter, walked out of the room after the incident and announced, “I think he’s dead.”