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No grounds to charge Durham officers accused of assaulting lawyer, police say

The Durham Regional Police East Division building is shown in Bowmanville, Ont. on Saturday March 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

Police east of Toronto say an investigation conducted by another police service has found no grounds to lay criminal charges against officers accused of assaulting a lawyer at the Oshawa, Ont., courthouse earlier this year.

Durham Regional Police say they have received the results of the investigation carried out by York Regional Police into the Jan. 23 incident and have now referred the matter to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency to assess whether any misconduct took place.

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Lawyer Sudine Riley alleged in a statement issued by her counsel that uniformed Durham officers slammed her head on a desk and put their knees on her back and neck after challenging her presence in the courthouse interview room where she was working.

Riley, who is Black, alleged she was then dragged out of the room, handcuffed and taken to the courthouse cells, during which her headscarf was ripped off.

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She said she was left bleeding and swollen.

Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Riley’s allegations spurred calls for an independent investigation into the incident, including from the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, a national legal organization.

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