Judge finds intentional infliction of mental suffering on wife who witnessed shooting
The British Columbia Supreme Court ordered a man who trespassed on a married couple’s residence to pay total damages of $1,046,286 to the husband whom he shot and to the wife who witnessed the shooting.
In Nelson v Tregear, 2026 BCSC 1553, the defendant was residing with his common-law partner in a property in Sooke, BC. The two plaintiffs, who were married, lived in a property adjacent to the defendant’s.
On May 7, 2022, while trespassing on the plaintiffs’ residence, the defendant shot the plaintiff husband in the abdomen with a .22 calibre rifle from point-blank range while in the plaintiff wife’s presence. During an altercation, the husband took the gun away from the defendant.
The plaintiff husband sustained grave injuries, with the bullet remaining lodged in his body.
BC Supreme Court’s criminal proceedings
In August 2025, the BC Supreme Court convicted the defendant of criminal offences for the shooting and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.
For much of the trial, the defendant acknowledged that the plaintiff husband “had been shot.” However, the defendant denied that there was proof that he had shot the husband.
In closing submissions, the defendant suggested that they would have to share responsibility because he was not 100 percent responsible.
Personal injury action filed by spouses
In an action for liability and damages against the defendant, the plaintiff husband alleged personal injuries due to the gunshot wound, while his wife asserted personal injuries from witnessing the shooting.
An order entered on Oct. 28, 2025, dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims against the defendant’s common-law partner.
BC Supreme Court awards over $1M in damages
Justice J.K. Gibson of the BC Supreme Court ordered the defendant to pay $767,100 in total damages to the plaintiff husband, comprising the following:
- non-pecuniary damages: $230,000
- past wage loss: $134,061
- loss of future income earning capacity: $250,000
- future care costs: $150,000
- special damages: $3,039
The court fixed the plaintiff wife’s total damages at $279,186, consisting of:
- non-pecuniary damages: $120,000
- past wage loss: $17,129
- future care costs: $140,000
- special damages: $2,057
The court ruled that the spouses successfully proved causation for the injuries.
The court noted that the defendant’s refusal to admit civil liability, at least until closing submissions, showed “exceptionally poor insight and a callous disregard” for the spouses’ suffering and abused the process, given the findings of his guilt in the criminal proceedings.
Liability to husband
The BC Supreme Court found the defendant liable to the plaintiff husband for the torts of assault, battery, and negligence. The court held that the shooting caused or substantially contributed to the husband’s following injuries:
- a gunshot wound to the abdomen, leading to a May 2022 emergency bowel resection surgery
- ongoing bowel obstruction issues, resulting in later hospitalizations, a December 2022 surgery, an incisional hernia that limited his ability to carry heavy objects, and adjustments to his eating and diet patterns
- a higher risk of developing additional serious obstructions, which would require hospitalization and/or surgery
- increased risk of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
- a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder due to the altercation
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- generalized anxiety disorder
- atrial fibrillation, leading to a November 2025 cardiac ablation procedure
Liability to wife
The BC Supreme Court found the defendant liable to the plaintiff wife for the torts of negligence and intentional infliction of mental suffering.
The court accepted that the wife could resume many of her typical activities. However, the court attributed the wife’s following injuries, conditions, or symptoms to the fact that she witnessed the shooting:
- a trauma disorder with post-traumatic stress symptoms that persisted until almost four years later
- a loss of a sense of safety in her home
- a withdrawn and anxious state
- hypervigilance
- sleeping challenges
- impacts on her personal relationships
Health Care Costs Recovery Act claim
Apart from the damages awarded to the plaintiffs, the BC Supreme Court ordered the defendant to pay His Majesty the King in right of the province of British Columbia $64,064.91 – comprising $63,955.01 for health care services provided to the husband, and $109.90 for those furnished to the wife – for a claim under BC’s Health Care Costs Recovery Act, 2008.
Supreme Court of British Columbia’s other injury cases
Here are some other BC Supreme Court decisions involving injuries.
In a case arising from a motor vehicle accident, the court issued a May 29 decision awarding total damages of $879,458 to an airport screening officer who developed a disabling chronic pain condition due to her back and leg injuries.
In a vehicular accident case, the court made an Apr. 23 decision dismissing the injured party’s application to call four expert witnesses and to exclude disbursements incurred by a vocational and job market analyst, an occupational therapist, an actuary, and an orthopedic surgeon.
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