Can’t conclude assault on Muslim teen was hate crime: judge

John Canning admits he assaulted 15-year-old girl outside her workplace two years ago

There’s no doubt a St. John’s man knew the teenage girl he assaulted was of a different cultural background than him, a St. John’s judge ruled Monday, March 25.

But based on the evidence, the judge said she was unable to conclude that the assault was a hate crime.

GUILTY PLEA TO ASSAULT

John Canning, 58, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a Muslim girl outside the restaurant where she worked, but disputed the nature of the assault and the Crown’s allegation that he was motivated by hate.

Provincial Court Judge Phyllis Harris heard arguments on the issue last month before setting a date for Canning’s sentencing, since a hate-motivated crime would allow her to issue a harsher sentence.

Harris said Monday she accepted evidence Canning had slapped the teenager in the face.

When it came to his motivation, she said she hadn’t found Canning particularly credible in his testimony, but there were also discrepancies in the evidence of the Crown’s three witnesses.

WHAT HAPPENED

The complainant, who was 15 at the time Canning assaulted her, had been with her sister and a female colleague, taking a break from their shift at Mary’s Diner on Torbay Road on the evening of May 6, 2020.

At the time, all three females were wearing their work uniforms, which consisted of a branded baseball cap worn over their hijabs.

The girl’s colleague testified Canning had knocked on their car window and she initially thought he was joking when he told them to speak English.

“He said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I told him, ‘I’m working here,’” the woman testified. “He came closer and he tried to push me in my face. I felt like something was going to happen. I was scared at that time.”

The complainant and her sister said Canning had asked what they were doing and they told him it was none of his business, advising him to speak with their manager if he had a problem.

They said he told them, “Shut up, you Black.”

“He yelled at my sister and called us the N-word,” the complainant’s sister testified, saying the younger girl got out of the car and yelled back at Canning.

VIDEO RECORDING

A short video she took on her phone was played for the court.

In it, Canning is shown leaning close to the teenager’s face and shouting, “I don’t know what you’re up to!” enunciating each word slowly.

When the girl yells back, “Stop f---ing yelling at me!” Canning smacks the side of her face, sending her offbalance, as her sister is heard shouting, “No!”

The teenager then throws an iced coffee at him.

The three witnesses said they were left shocked and scared by the incident, which they felt was blatantly racist.

DEFENCE

Canning, who was identified and charged weeks after the incident, told the court he had been walking in the area and approached the car after feeling it was suspiciously parked with music coming from it.

He said he approached the vehicle, wondering if the occupants “were going to rob the medical centre” nearby.

He testified he recognized the older witness from the restaurant once she lowered her window and had turned to leave after she said she worked there, not realizing there were two other people in the backseat.

“They came at me and attacked me and got right up in my face. One of the girls, I thought she was going to bite me,” he said.

When asked by prosecutor Mark James why he had that impression, Canning said, “They were just cursing and swearing and I didn’t know why.”

Canning denied making racist comments.

SENTENCING SCHEDULED

Defence lawyer Tammy Drover asked the witnesses why they had not told police about the racist comments until after they gave their second statements, a month after the incident.

The teenager said she had been in too much shock, while her colleague said she had told them in her second statement, even if investigators hadn’t written it down.

The complainant’s sister testified all three of them had told police about the comments.

“There are significant inconsistencies among all four witnesses regarding the use of racial slurs,” Harris said, adding she was unable to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt Canning had said them.

She will hear sentencing arguments April 17 from Crown and defence lawyers for the assault.

“There are significant inconsistencies among all four witnesses regarding the use of racial slurs.”

Provincial Court Judge Phyllis Harris