This is so stupid, you have bang your head
Sue first, then find out information
Boys accused of setting Horizon Plastics fire face civil lawsuits
Posted 4 hours ago
"This has destroyed our lives," said the mother of the younger of two youths charged with setting a multi-million-dollar fire at a Horizon Plastics in Cobourg on April 25, 2005.
Although her son, 12 at the time of the fire, and the co-accused, then 15, were found not guilty, they have been harassed ever since, she said. In small communities, people are aware of the boys' identities and the charges, but little is remembered about the charges being thrown out of court, the mother said.
The judge hearing the case ruled against allowing statements from the boys taken by police because they failed to comply with provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The names of the youths cannot be published under the provisions of the Act.
"He's been beat up and harassed, even up to now," said the mother.
The family no longer lives in Cobourg.
The woman said she has suffered from depression over a number of years. She said she has a back problem that has recently put her on a disability pension. The single mother is bringing up not only the boy charged and cleared, but other younger children.
Her eldest son, now 15, recently returned home from a group home after serving a custody sentence for taking a joyride in a car that had been left running. Her son's "impulse control" is very low, the mother said, but, with counsellors, he is working on that. He is a very good reader and when school is out he'll be looking for a full-time summer job, she added.
As if things weren't hard enough with the fire in 2005 and trial in 2006, earlier this year, the mother received notifications of civil lawsuits naming her and her son and claiming millions of dollars.
"You can't get blood from a stone," she said as her eyes filled with tears.
She's been trying to write her own statements of defence against the statements of claim because Ontario's legal aid system only assists with criminal, not civil issues, she said she's been told. Each filing with the court costs hundreds of dollars and, as it is, she is struggling to keep a roof over her family's head and food on the table.
"I'm trying to do it on my own," she said. "But, it costs a fortune. One hundred and forty-four dollars per response (times four). I have to, or I get a judgment against me which I'd have to appeal, which is even more money.
"I've had depression for years. It's just getting worse. Getting things like these (lawsuits), it's just getting worse," the mother said.
A statement of claim from Affiliated FM Insurance Company is against the mother, her son, and the older co-accused in the fire and his parents. It claims $10.5-million in damages. The insurance company is trying to recoup the claim it paid to Horizon Plastics Company Ltd. for the fire damage sustained to its building as well as the loss of plastic lattice stored in an exterior compound at the plant in Northam Industrial Park, said solicitor John Lloyd of McCague Peacock Borlack McInnis & Lloyd LLP, a Toronto firm.
The insurance company alleges the fire and resulting damage is due, in part, to negligence by the parents in failing to properly supervise their children.
The Town of Cobourg and Delcom Management Inc. have also each filed cross-claims by the same law firm. The town owns the industrial park where Horizon Plastics is located. Delcom manages the industrial park.
A fourth cross-claim, for negligence, against the younger accused and his mother has also been filed by the other boy accused and cleared in the case and his family. It was filed by R.B. Cumine of McLean & Kerr LLP, who declined to be interviewed.
A call to the Town of Cobourg's director of legislative services, Ian Davey, confirmed the town has filed a lawsuit.
"It's all in the hands of the insurance company," Mr. Davey said. "The town's losses were covered by insurance at the industrial park and now it's up to the insurance to do what insurance companies do at this point."
The total claim by Delcom Management and the Town of Cobourg is for $2.5-million.
Mr. Lloyd, representing the insurance company of Affiliated FM Insurance Company who paid out Horizon Plastics' claim, plus the Town of Cobourg and Delcom, was contacted earlier this month. He said there had not been any response to their claim by the woman or her son.
Until a claim is started, there is no way to get information, he said. The legal process has time frames to preserve the rights of the parties who have sustained losses. After an insurance claim is paid out, there is a right to recovery against alleged wrongdoers, Mr. Lloyd said.
When told of the woman's circumstances and disability pension, Mr. Lloyd replied, "She wouldn't be forced to incur expenses unnecessarily (in filing a statement of defence)."
He said there was the possibility of seeking a judgment if she defaulted in her filing, but he said he would look into the matter further.
The next day, Mr. Lloyd said he had spoken to the woman and told her she didn't have to file her statement of defence, given her circumstances.
"We're not looking for her to incur expenses she could not afford," he said.
Normally, the individual would contact the lawyers issuing a claim, not the other way around, he said. In this case, Mr. Lloyd did just that.
When asked if he would be providing the woman with something in writing about their conversation, Mr. Lloyd said he would first talk to the lawyer in his office handling the file.
When the lawyer finished explaining, "I was crying," the woman said after receiving the telephone call from Mr. Lloyd. "He literally apologized."
Mr. Lloyd said if the woman had any questions or concerns to call him, she said.
"He told me not to waste my money on filing."
She said this takes a little weight off her shoulders -but she still wants to see something in writing - and the lawsuit issued by the co-accused and his parents remains in place, she said.
When Toronto lawyer Robin B. Cumine of McLean & Kerr LLP, was contacted by this newspaper, he was made aware of the woman's financial and medical circumstances. Mr. Cumine would only make one comment when asked to do an interview.
"I'm not prepared to discuss the case. I'm sorry," he said during a telephone conversation April 14.
Attempts to interview the family of the co-accused were, likewise, unsuccessful.
When contacted in person at his home, the father of the co-accused told this reporter, "I'm not interested in talking to you."
This newspaper was first contacted by a family friend concerned about the impact of the lawsuits on the woman of the younger boy charged with, and acquitted of, setting the fire. The woman's health has been steadily deteriorating and depression increasing, the friend said.
This reporter has seen the physical signs of stress the woman wears. "You can't get blood from a stone," the woman reiterated during an interview, as two of her children sat in the living room with her.
One was reading and the other playing with a cat. A television sit-com droned on in the background, but no one was laughing.
