Dentist who suffered broken teeth in unprovoked attack at Surrey banquet hall awarded more than $50,000

THE B.C. Supreme Court has awarded more than $55,000 to a dentist who suffered broken teeth in an unprovoked assault at Surrey’s Bombay Banquet Hall. As he and his wife were leaving a wedding reception in August 2012, he was attacked by Gurpaul Purgash Singh Deol and another person.

Justice Brenda Brown noted in her ruling that was released last week: “It was an unprovoked attack. Three of [his] teeth were broken. He will require further dental repair. He suffered a loss of income. He experienced headaches and anxiety.”

She said: “In my view the appropriate award of damages, including the compensatory intangible elements to be covered by an award of aggravated damages, is $55,000. In addition, I am satisfied that [he] lost income of $3,000 as result of this assault and will incur dental repair of $7,000.”

Since the other defendants who had been sued had already paid damages to the dentist, that amount would be deducted from the amount to be paid by Deol, the judge ruled.

According to court documents, police investigated the incident and Deol was charged with assault, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. In May 2015, Deol was found guilty of the offence of assault and was sentenced to one day jail, one year probation and a two-year firearms prohibition.

According to the dentist’s evidence in court: “On August 11, 2012, he and his wife attended a wedding reception at the Bombay Banquet Hall. They arrived at approximately 8 p.m. He said that he was socializing with his in-laws. He had three to four beers over the course of the evening between 8 p.m. and 12 o’clock midnight. He was introduced to Mr. Deol’s father by his wife when they were outside on the patio. He also met Mr. Deol briefly on the patio. He and his wife were leaving at approximately 12:30 a.m. They were waiting for a cab. Mr. Deol and another individual arrived. Mr. Deol charged [the dentist] and punched him in the side of the face with what appeared to be brass knuckles. He was struck just below the nose on the right side of his mouth with a closed fist. [The dentist] saw something sharp and shiny, a metal object in Mr. Deol’s hand as he was punched. [The dentist] said that he was stunned and at that point another individual struck him on the back of the head. He could not see what he was struck with but it felt like some kind of hard object. He fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He was taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital where he received a CT scan. His lip was split open and his front teeth were broken. He had numerous abrasions to his cheek and chin. He also had scrapes and cuts to the back of his head.”