Three people who punched each other in a B.C. apartment building have all lost after they sued each other at the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.
The incident involved three people. Tracie Anne Lake and Michael William James alleged they were attacked Oct. 19, 2022, by Paul Martin, who lived in one the building's units above them.
“I find that all the parties participated in the fight. I find it most likely that the parties had a heated argument about noise from Mr. Martin’s residence,” tribunal member Peter Mennie said in his Dec. 15 decision.
“I find that all parties engaged in this confrontation which escalated to a physical fight where both Mr. James and Mr. Martin threw punches and Ms. Lake pushed Mr. Martin.”
Lake and James claimed $10,525 in personal injury damages. Martin, meanwhile, asserted he was attacked by Lake and James and fought back in self-defence. He claimed $5,000 in personal injury damages.
But the tribunal member agreed with a police officer’s assessment that all the parties suffered similar injuries which indicates that this was a mutual or consensual fight.
Mennie dismissed both disputes, finding “none of the parties are entitled to damages given their mutual participation in the fight.”
Two versions of a fight
Lake and James said that excessive noise was coming from Martin’s residence, so Lake went to ask Martin and his family to be quieter.
They told the tribunal that Martin was intoxicated and aggressive when he answered the door.
James said he ran to Martin’s floor when he heard him shouting.
Lake and James said they tried to take the elevator back to their residence, but Martin followed them and punched James eight to nine times, Mennie said. When Lake tried to push Martin off James, he punched the woman three to four times, they claimed.
Lake and James went to an emergency room and hospital records showed James suffered a fractured nose and bruises to his face. Lake suffered an injury to her left shoulder and bruises to her head and face.
Martin gave a different version of events.
He said Lake knocked very loudly on his door and then swore and shouted at him about his children being too loud.
He says he left his unit and closed the door behind him so his children would not hear the shouting. He said he tried to usher Lake down the hall toward the elevator.
That's when James came from the elevator and shouted at him aggressively, Martin said.
“He says Mr. James punched him in the head so he hit back in self-defence,” Mennie said. “He says Ms. Lake jumped on him so he put his arm up to push her away.”
Martin provided photos which show a black eye and a bruise on his face.
Martin said he and his family moved to a new residence because of ongoing harassment and hostility from Ms. Lake and Mr. James.
Both sides told a police officer who attended the scene that the other punched them unprovoked, the tribunal member said.
