On Friday, a judge ruled that several people who participated in the infamous 2011 Stanley Cup riots are liable for causing car damages, and thus should pay the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) for ruining vehicles insured by the company.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers issued the legal decision, referring to nine individuals who were criminally sentenced for taking part in the riots.
According to a report released by the B.C. government in January, 122 vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the wake of the riot that erupted on June 11, 2011, moments before the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins. The riot lasted for about five hours.
ICBC filed lawsuits against 82 people for damages, and 27 settled out of court. Thirty-five were given default judgments and 10 took their cases to trial.
In his decision, Myers said that nine of the men who stood in trial are liable for damages to at least one vehicle. However, he declined to award the punitive damages ICBC asked for, reasoning that the defendants had all been criminally convicted and their sentences are punishment enough.
“There comes a point when enough is enough,” the judge said.
Myers clarified that the decision does not “minimize the gravity” of the riot, underscoring that the event threw Vancouver into chaos.
The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch laid 912 charges on 300 suspects following the riot, counting 246 adults and 54 youths at the time of the riot,
CFJC Today reported.
Province officials said that in January, a total of 284 individuals pleaded guilty. The Crown delayed proceedings against six others.
The Criminal Justice Branch created a riot-prosecution team to handle all the cases; the team’s total expenditures have reached $4,976,765.
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