POLICE CONSTABLE DENIES OFFICERS' 'CODE OF SILENCE'

Cocaine User's Death A Shock, Inquest Told

A Toronto constable has denied the existence of a code of silence among
police officers, at an inquest into the death of a prisoner dragged through
a police station with a nightstick under his neck.

Constable Nick Ashley said he attended the criminal trial of a fellow
officer later acquitted in the death to give ``moral support'' and not to
judge his actions.

Ashley was testifying yesterday at the inquest for Kenneth Allen, 32, who
was brought to 52 Division, high on cocaine, Nov. 29, 1991. Allen, 32, went
limp and was dragged through the station with a nightstick under his neck.
Paramedics tried to revive Allen, but he was pronounced dead in hospital.

Ashley had previously testified that Allen had ``superhuman'' force the
night he violently attacked a streetcar operator and was able to overpower
four police officers.

But yesterday, lawyer Peter Rosenthal, representing the Black Action
Defence Committee, asked him if officers who give unfavourable evidence
against colleagues are regarded as ``stool pigeons.''

``That is a perception, not a reality,'' Ashley responded firmly. ``I
haven't dealt with that situation, so I can't say.''

Ashley testified that a reluctance to avoid charges had nothing to do with
the evidence he was able to give on the actions of Constable Paul Van
Seters, the officer who used the nightstick.

``I don't know what his mindset was, I didn't see (the nightstick) in
person, and the slow-motion video wasn't helpful,'' he told the jury. ``As
a trained investigator I don't assume . . . I look for the facts.''

Van Seters was acquitted of criminal negligence causing death in 1996.

Ashley told Kevin McGivney, his lawyer, he was ``shocked'' when he realized
Allen's vital signs had stopped because he had no idea Allen had ingested
enough cocaine to kill himself.

Asked by his lawyer to explain a vague portion of a videotape where Van
Seters might appear to be laughing, Ashley explained that in the
``distressing situation'' he had told Van Seters that Allen had bitten off
an antenna from his radio.

Ashley said he attended Van Seters' trial ``to support him because he was
charged . . . but not to make any judgment of . . . what he did.''

The inquest is looking into what caused Allen's death.