Video contradicts witnesses in trial of Sudbury police officer accused of threatening kid hockey player

Aya Dufour · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 6:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The proceedings of a Sudbury constabulary serviceman who allegedly threatened to interruption the ankles of an 11-year-old hockey subordinate aft a crippled successful Espanola resumed connected Thursday. 

Melisa Rancourt took the basal successful her ain defence and presented a precise antithetic mentation of events than the 1 described by 2 cardinal Crown witnesses.

All parties hold the crippled connected Feb. 11, 2024 betwixt Espanola and Walden was adjacent and heated, and that a Walden subordinate skated past the Espanola squad seat and blew a buss aft scoring a goal.

Rancourt, who is the caput manager of the Espanola team, told the court it was the latest successful a bid of unsportsmanlike behaviour from the Walden squad that progressive radical slurs, inappropriate bodychecks and taunting. 

She said she tried to bring this to the attraction of the referee respective times during the crippled and was ignored. 

After the crippled was over, she said she headed to the Walden team's dressing country to sermon her concerns with their coaches.

"I often person conversations with coaches aft games to sermon what has gone on," she told the court, adding she had 10 years of coaching experience. 

"My relation is to amended players and marque definite they recognize the rules of the game." 

Rancourt says she warned subordinate astir unsportsmanlike conduct

Rancourt said she couldn't find the Walden coaches, and decided to concisely talk to a young subordinate earlier heading backmost to her ain team's dressing room.

She maintained she told that young player: "Tell your teammate that if he's going to stroke kisses by the seat helium should marque definite the referee doesn't spot due to the fact that it's unsportsmanlike conduct." 

On the archetypal time of the proceedings past September, the young subordinate told the tribunal Rancourt that said: "If you guys bash different solemnisation similar that I'll marque definite you ne'er skate again," and insinuated she would interruption his and his teammates' ankles. 

Back then, the young player, whose individuality is covered by a court-ordered work ban, admitted to the tribunal that fearfulness played with his representation of the event.

He testified that he had "messed immoderate up" by telling constabulary officers Rancourt had assaulted him by touching his precocious assemblage erstwhile soundless information footage shows determination was nary carnal interaction betwixt the two.

The different cardinal witnesser for Crown prosecutors, Maverine Bain— thje parent of 1 of the different Walden squad players— testified connected Thursday earlier Rancourt took the stand. 

Bain told the tribunal she was by the Walden dressing country waiting for her lad to travel retired portion tending to a toddler erstwhile she witnessed the enactment betwixt Rancourt and the player, and said she heard the menace astir breaking ankles.

Court hears parts of grounds fixed to police

The tribunal past heard a signaling of portion of what Bain told constabulary the day aft the game. 

She was heard telling officers that much radical were coming done the corridor and it got chaotic, but she heard the menace and saw Rancourt drawback the young subordinate by the scruff of the neck.

The tribunal reviewed the video footage of the alleged incidental again, which showed a lone a little verbal speech betwixt the subordinate and Rancourt and nary carnal contact. 

Bain added that things happened rapidly and she had a vague representation of events.

Rancourt's lawyer asked Bain if she knew astir the beingness of the information footage earlier she went to police, to which Bain answered that she's alert Sudbury arenas person cameras, but had ne'er been to the Espanola rink before that day.

Rancourt's lawyer past introduced a question to disregard the case, citing insufficient evidence, but the justice said the proceedings should proceed. 

It is expected to wrapper up Friday with grounds from 2 defence witnesses who were besides successful the arena corridor during the alleged incident.