Former Calgary cop who assaulted handcuffed man sentenced to 90 days in jail served on weekends

A former Calgary police officer who fractured a handcuffed man's skull during an arrest has been sentenced to 90 days in jail, to be served on weekends, plus one year of probation.

Trevor Lindsay was convicted more than two years ago of aggravated assault and his sentencing hearing began seven months ago.

"It has been a long road to reach this point," said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Michael Lema.

In 2015, Lindsay threw Daniel Haworth, who was handcuffed, to the ground head-first, causing a fractured skull and brain injury. 

Prosecutor John Baharustani proposed a two- to three-year sentence while defence lawyer Don MacLeod argued his client should face either an suspended sentence or intermittent sentence of up to 90 days plus probation.

On May 25, 2015, Haworth was arrested by Lindsay and taken to the arrest processing unit (APU), where surveillance video captured what then took place in the parking lot. 

The video shows Lindsay take Haworth out of the police car and push him up against the cruiser.

The officer then punched Haworth four times before swinging the handcuffed arrestee to the ground, head first.

Lema described the assault as an "overreaction."

The victim's brother testified during the trial that Haworth was never the same after the injuries. He died of a drug overdose months later. 

It was not the first time Lindsay assaulted a handcuffed man and was caught doing so on video.

Much of the evidence at Lindsay's sentencing hearing focused on the excessive force used against Godfred Addai-Nyamekye, which the Crown argued was an aggravating factor.

Lema did make a finding that Lindsay had assaulted Addai-Nyamekye.

Police helicopter video shows Lindsay beating the handcuffed victim.