Man attacked godfather with SUV
Denial of cash spurred ‘full temper tantrum’
A 31-year-old Ottawa man was in a “full temper tantrum” at the prospect of being cut off from his sick grandmother’s money when he tried to run over his godfather with an SUV, a judge ruled Monday.
On Easter Sunday in 2012, a smiling Nicholas Gour backed up his turquoise Jimmy, turned the wheels in the direction of his godfather and stepped on the gas, Ontario Justice Jacqueline Loignon found in her ruling.
The fender hit and broke his godfather’s left index finger, court heard.
Moments before, Gour was “belligerent and screaming” when directed away from his grandmother’s Montreal Road apartment without the $10 he had come to retrieve. As he became “more and more agitated,” Gour pulled out his dentures, threw them on the dash and ripped apart his own shirt, Loignon said.
He told his godfather, who is also his uncle: “I’m going to break your face. I’m going to fix you.”
Court heard that his 81-year-old grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and is on a waiting list for a long-term care facility.
Gour testified during his trial in August that he frequently receives money from his grandmother and does not believe she is sick.
Gour admitted that he is quick to anger — once swinging a bar threateningly at a police officer — but denied that he would ever try to hurt his godfather. He claimed his godfather confronted him at the driver’s side window of his SUV and grabbed him by the collar — in the process ripping his shirt and the chain he wore around his neck.
“I do not believe the accused’s evidence,” Loignon said, adding that Gour’s claim that he simply removed his dentures because they were loose is “not believable.”
Loignon also rejected the evidence of Gour’s friend, Rick Lahaie, who testified he witnessed the April 8 fight from a gas station across the street while walking his dog. Lahaie claimed that Gour was grabbed by the throat. Loignon said it was “hard to believe” that Lahaie did not come forward to file a police report even though his friend was facing criminal charges. It is “entirely too coincidental” that Lahaie would happen upon his friend for the first time in six months during a fight with his godfather, Loignon said.
Loignon accepted the evidence of Gour’s great aunt, who lives in the same building as his grandmother. She testified that three weeks after the Easter Sunday fight, Gour threatened to “beat the s---” out of his godfather.
Gour was convicted of uttering threats, assault with a weapon (an SUV) and causing bodily harm with a vehicle.
Crown prosecutor Hart Shouldice told the court he is seeking a jail term.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23.