An off-duty West Van cop who assaulted a man outside the Hyatt hotel last January was handed a 21-day conditional sentence in Vancouver provincial court today.

Griffin Gillan pleaded guilty to the assault earlier this month and today a judge laid out the chain of events – including a tableau of "significant gratuitous violence" that saw Gillan and police academy instructor Jeffrey Klassen kick and punch an "innocent person," newspaper delivery driver Firoz Khan, while they held him face down on the pavement.

The judge said that Gillan, who downed between 20 and 25 alcoholic beverages that night, also lied to Vancouver police in their investigation at the scene of the assault, in addition to kicking and spitting on a police cruiser.

The events began in the evening of Jan. 20 in West Vancouver where Gillan, who had been with the WPD for 13 months, met with Jeffrey Klassen and Blair Tanino – officers in New Westminster and Delta respectively.

That night the men watched the Canucks game before heading downtown to the Furniture Warehouse and the Roxy on Granville street.

Gillan claims to have no memory of the night after that point.

By 2:30 a.m. at the corner of Hastings and Howe streets, Gillan was trying to flag down cars from the curb lane. Aubrey Simon, who has since died, gave Gillan a ride in his Corvette to the Hyatt, where he was headed to meet friends.

Gillan told Simon he was a police officer, claiming falsely to be with the VPD and adding that he would "destroy Simon if he didn't do what he was told," explained Justice Watchuk.

Assault took four stages: judge

When they reached the Hyatt, Simon was concerned about Gillan's "erratic behaviour" and the drunk man threatened Simon saying, "If you come any closer, I'll have people deal with you."

Simon then called 911 from inside the Hyatt.

Outside, near a parked truck on Melville street, Gillan approached Firoz Khan, a newspaper courier for Dolphin Delivery, saying, "Buddy, I need to know how to get to Broadway and Cambie."

Khan told Gillan, "Give me a second," and went to put his stack of papers down.

Gillan's response was "You f*ckin' come here right now," and the off-duty cop then grabbed Khan by the lapels, either kneeing him or kicking him in the stomach, said Justice Watchuk. She said this action was the first in a four-stage assault against Khan.

She said Khan fell to the pavement and Gillan struck the man on the ground at least three times around his head and shoulders, constituting stage-two of the assault.

In the third stage, Gillan pulled the hood of Khan's sweatshirt over his head and said, "You're under arrest," as Justice Watchuk described, "resuming his physical abuse of Mr. Khan in the guise of forceful arrest."

Then, with his "foot pressed into the back of Khan's head," Gillan phoned his two friends, asking for "back up," according to what Khan heard from the pavement.

Tanino and Klassen rushed over the Hyatt, worried Gillan had gotten into a fight.

When they arrived at the Hyatt, the drunk off duty cop Gillan and the beaten delivery driver Khan stood facing one another, each with his hands on the other man's shoulders.

Five witnesses described these events, and Justice Watchuk accepted the descriptions as evidence.

Klassen was on top of Khan, punching him in the head three or four times, yelling "stay down or I will kill you."

Gillan kicked Khan twice in the middle, landing one more kick at Tanino's mouth.

Tanino did not hit anyone, Justice Watchuk said.

"We are the police": actions breached public trust, said judge

Khan yelled for someone to "Call the police," and Klassen called back "We are the police," a statement that was repeated by one of the three off duty police when uniformed cops arrived on scene.

Cst. Jaswal, then just two weeks out of police academy, recognized Klassen as his Use of Force instructor at the Justice Institute.

Pointing to Khan, Klassen told Cst. Jaswal, "This is the guy. Arrest him. He's the sh*t rat."

Witness at the scene told Cst. Jaswal what they had seen and he arrested all three off duty officers.

Justice Watchuk said aggravating factors in the sentence included Gillan's lie to police on Jan. 21 – he had never seen Corvette driver Aubrey Simon – and his act of spitting on and kicking a police car.

Justice Watchuk said that other aggravating factors included that Gillan was a police officer and that he "continued to invoke and use police powers" during the assault.

"Although Gillan was off duty at the time, his actions breached the trust of the public," Justice Watchuk said.

Victim's family claims lives ruined

Gillan's sentence of 21 days jail to be served in the community is harsher than the conditional discharge sought by Gillan's defence and much less than the maximum assault penalty of four to six months sought by the Crown.

Justice Watchuk argued based on testimonials that Gillan is an "upstanding young man who made serious mistakes with enormous consequences to himself and Mr. Khan."

However a representative for Khan's family says the 47-year-old husband and father of three is struggling to pay his mortgage.

"His doctors told him he cannot drive," said lawyer Mobina Jaffer outside the courthouse following the sentencing. She said Khan may consider filing a civil suit.

Court records show that doctors assessing the soft tissue trauma to Khan's neck and other areas found he did not sustain a concussion. They said Khan could return to work within seven to 13 days although Khan claims he cannot drive after the accident.

Jeffrey Klassen is scheduled to appear in provincial court in September.