New BrunswickA Codiac Regional RCMP officer who assaulted a man whose hands and feet were bound during an arrest three years ago has been sentenced to four months in jail.Billy Parent-Roy had been found guilty of assault causing bodily harm over 2022 arrestConst. Billy Parent-Roy appeared in Moncton provincial court Monday for his sentencing hearing, at which he spoke briefly about being proud of his integrity and professionalism at work. (Rachel Gauvin/Radio-Canada)A Codiac Regional RCMP officer who assaulted a man whose hands and feet were bound during an arrest three years ago has been sentenced to four months in jail.Judge Ronald LeBlanc sentenced Const. Billy Parent-Roy in Moncton provincial court Monday.After the sentence was imposed, Parent-Roy was immediately handcuffed by a sheriff and escorted out of the courtroom, as his relatives wept.Parent-Roy, who is in his early-30s, was previously found guilty of assault causing bodily harm to Craig Hachey while detaining him at the Shediac RCMP detachment on June 29, 2022, under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act.Surveillance footage from inside the detachment, which the judge viewed during the trial, showed Parent-Roy using physical force multiple times in the minutes it took him and three other officers to transport Hachey, aged 51 at the time, from a police vehicle to a holding cell.WATCH: Past news item including surveillance video of incident: Codiac RCMP officer who assaulted man in 2022 to be sentenced in OctoberDuring the trial, Judge Ronald LeBlanc reviewed this security footage of Const. Billy Parent-Roy assaulting Craig Hachey at the Shediac RCMP detachment in 2022.Parent-Roy can be seen punching Hachey repeatedly in the back, kneeing him in the chest, grabbing him by the neck and standing on his calves for a short time while three other officers pinned Hachey to the floor.The Crown had recommended a sentence of 30 to 60 days in jail, followed by a one-year probation period.The defence instead recommended an absolute discharge — the most lenient sentence possible — which would have allowed Parent-Roy to avoid jail and a criminal record.’Quite serious’In delivering his harsher sentence, the judge said an absolute discharge would undermine the public’s confidence.LeBlanc described the offence committed by the officer as “quite serious” and a breach of trust. Police officers have a special status, he said in French; they represent the judicial system.The judge said Parent-Roy used excessive and unlawful force, inflicting 12 blows on the victim, who was incapable of defending himself, with his wrists handcuffed behind his back and his feet in chains.Const. Billy Parent-Roy is seen in this video still kneeing Craig Hachey in the torso, while he was pinned to the floor by three other officers with his hands and feet bound. (Court of King’s Bench)LeBlanc also noted that the victim, who was arrested in Moncton on suspicion of being drunk on a public highway, suffered a number of injuries. These included a fractured rib and elbow, cuts, bruises and a black eye, the trial heard.”In my opinion, Parent-Roy’s moral culpability in this instance is high,” LeBlanc said.The judge cited mitigating factors, however, including Parent-Roy’s positive reputation among his colleagues. LeBlanc said he had received several letters of support from members of the RCMP and read some excerpts aloud in court.The maximum sentence for assault causing bodily harm is 10 years in prison. There is no minimum.Case worse than Campbellton assault, judge saysLeBlanc referred to the recent case of another Mountie in reaching the appropriate sentence.Campbellton RCMP Const. Pierrick Caron was sentenced to four months in jail and 12 months of probation in 2024 for assault for pinning a homeless man to the ground and punching him 19 times during his arrest. That incident was also captured on video, this time by a passerby.Parent-Roy’s defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux told reporters after the sentencing that he thought they had ‘a pretty strong argument and the judge didn’t agree.’ (Pascal Raiche Nogue/Radio-Canada)Caron appealed his conviction and sentence, but his appeal was dismissed last week and he was ordered back to jail.LeBlanc said that in his opinion, the facts in Caron’s case were “less serious,” as the victim was not handcuffed, was not restrained by other officers, and was outside a Tim Hortons restaurant, as opposed to a secure location such as a police station.Plans to appeal, conduct hearing pendingDefence lawyer Gilles Lemieux told reporters outside the courthouse that he was disappointed by the sentence and intends to appeal.A still photo from the video that showed the uniformed Campbellton RCMP officer punching a man outside a Tim Hortons in July 2021. (Facebook)The superintendent of the Codiac Regional RCMP, Benoit Jolette, attended the hearing but declined to comment on the sentence as he left the courthouse.”My only comment is that we will be there for Constable Parent-Roy and for his family,” he said.Parent-Roy has been on administrative leave since Aug. 4, 2022. We understand and respect the impact this incident may have on public trust. As the employer, the RCMP will now proceed with appropriate actions pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.— RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Matthew Leblanc-SmithHe’s currently scheduled to face an RCMP code of conduct hearing Nov. 10-21 in Moncton for an alleged breach of Section 5.1 of the code. It states that members “use only as much force as is reasonably necessary in the circumstances.”It’s unclear what, if any, impact his jail sentence or pending appeal might have.Asked for comment, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Matthew Leblanc-Smith said: “We understand and respect the impact this incident may have on public trust. As the employer, the RCMP will now proceed with appropriate actions pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.”The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP officers below the rank of inspector, could not immediately be reached for comment.With files from Pascal Raiche-Nogue
Codiac Regional RCMP officer who assaulted handcuffed man sentenced to 4 months in jail
