Feud between neighbours on Vancouver Island led to Paul Tregear trespassing on neighbour’s property and shooting him in front of his wife
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One B.C. judge sent a man to prison for seven years for shooting and seriously wounding his neighbour. Now a second judge has ordered him to pay the victim and the victim’s wife more than $1 million.
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Paul Tregear, 58, of Sooke on southern Vancouver Island, was sentenced last year after a jury found him guilty of aggravated assault for shooting Anthony Nelson, who lives on the adjacent acreage, after years of simmering tensions between the two families.
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He also was found guilty at the criminal trial last year of using a firearm with intent to harm and for not having a licence for the rifle. He had walked on to the Nelsons’ land on May 7, 2022, and shot Nelson point blank in the stomach with a .22-calibre rifle.
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Nelson, 56, and his wife, Wendy Nelson, who watched him get shot, filed the lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking about $1 million in damages.
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That was awarded by Justice Julie K. Gibson, who found the legal wrongs of assault, battery and negligence were committed against Nelson, and that negligence and infliction of mental suffering were committed against his wife.
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Tregear, who represented himself in the five-day hearing over video link from his federal prison, Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, maintained it wasn’t proven that he shot Nelson, until the last day when he suggested he wasn’t 100 per cent responsible.
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That showed “exceptionally poor insight and a callous disregard for the Nelsons’ suffering,” said Gibson.
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Ignoring the findings of guilt at his criminal trial amounted to an abuse of process, she said.
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She said Nelson still carries the bullet in his abdomen and had emergency surgery followed by several hospitalizations for bowel obstructions, another surgery months later, a hernia and diet changes to manage the bowel obstruction.
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He also has an increased risk of further obstructions and bacterial overgrowth in his small intestine as well as a torn rotator cuff, injured in the struggle over the gun with Tregear after he was shot. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, general anxiety disorder and heart problems, wrote Gibson.
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She awarded Nelson $767,000 — about one-third for pain and suffering, one-third for loss of future earnings, and the rest for past wage loss and future care.
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He has been unable to return to his job installing siding, where he was up for promotion to foreman, because of his injuries and has since been hired at B.C. Ferries for a lower wage, according to the judgment.
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His future care costs includes pharmaceuticals, counselling and other therapies, a gym pass and help with house and yard work.
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His wife also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and loss of sense of safety in her own home, causing sleep and relationship problems, said Gibson.
