Rod Boggs and Bill Hart, who have lived in the four unit condo since 2006, said the Harrisons and their 17-year-old son have done everything from report false accusations to the police, attempt to instigate fist fights, hurled slurs, let the air out of the couple’s car tires, threatened to kill their cat and more.

Though Mr. Harrison denied the claims that he and his wife told the couple that “gays weren’t welcome at Brighouse,” he was not believed.

“I have concluded that Mr. Harrison was not a credible witness,” Justice Doug Halfyard wrote. “I have grave concerns about his honesty, and I would not accept his testimony on the disputed points, unless I was satisfied that his evidence was confirmed by other independent and reliable evidence.”

Justice Halfyard did not award greater damages to the men because “to a limited extent” they had provoked the Harrisons, primarily by making complaints to the building. Among other things, the Harrisons had to remove their basketball hoops and provide adult supervision for their children in the pool.

Though Hart admitted to calling Patricia Harrison several names, he insists that he never called her “fat” to her face.

Read the full Vancouver Sun article here.

Ryan Cran was convicted of manslaughter in 2005 in the slaying of Aaron Webster.

Webster’s naked body was found in a pool of blood on a footpath near a public parking lot in a gay cruising area of Vancouver’s Stanley Park in November 2001. An autopsy showed he had been beaten to death with a blunt instrument, probably a baseball bat. Stanley Park was a well known cruising area and the killing galvanized Vancouver’s gay community and police at the time.

Cran was sentenced to six years in prison, while two young offenders received lesser terms after admitting their roles in the November 2001 beating. A fourth man was found not guilty.

At Cran’s sentencing, prosecutors asked for a six- to nine-year sentence, but did not seek to have the case treated as a hate crime to allow for a longer sentence – something that angered Webster’s family and BC LGBT activists.

Nevertheless, at the sentencing hearing, the judge was told that Cran had not shown any remorse for the killing. The prosecutor said that the pack of armed men were looking to hunt down another human being for entertainment.

The two juveniles were released after serving two years in a youth detention center.

During his four years behind bars, Cran launched several unsuccessful appeals. Under Canadian law, a prisoner can be freed after serving two-thirds of a sentence if there have been no problems during the incarceration.

Webster’s cousin Denise Norman had lobbied the National Parole Board to have Cran banned from the predominantly gay West End where the park was located.

The board disregarded Norman’s plea. Cran’s release conditions only require counseling, refraining from alcohol, and having no contact with Webster’s family.

The Join Hands for Justice rally began at English Bay marched to the site where a man was violently assaulted last month as he strode hand-in-hand with his partner.

The rally was escorted by a phalanx of motorcycle cops.

Michael Kandola, a 20-year-old Vancouver man, faces a charge of assault causing bodily harm in connection with an incident that police are calling a gay bashing.

Jordan Smith said he was holding hands with a man when the pair were approached by five men.

Smith, 27, said he was hit on the head so hard that he was knocked unconscious.

His jaw is broken in three places and is wired shut after surgery.

Rally moderator Jim Deva told the crowd that he had asked the police to hold the rally.

“The police chief (Jim Chu) said, `Of course, you can have a rally, and I want to speak at it,”’ Deva said.

Chu said it was not that long ago that the Vancouver Police Department was reluctant to participate in Pride Parades, but now he walks in them every year.

“We are happy to join you because you are our friends, our neighbours,” Chu said to huge applause.

Chu also said the police department advocates changes in legislation that would make it easier for judges to cite hate crimes when they consider sentences against people convicted in offences such as the one involving Smith.

The Criminal Code contains a provision under sentencing that allows a judge to increase or reduce a sentence when the offence is motivated by hate or prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation and other factors.

David Angelo Petrovic, who said he saw the assault against Smith and will be a witness at the trial, also lauded the police.

“The cops were very supportive and very efficient,” he said. “The police were there right away.”

Chu said that the gay and lesbian community has his assurance that “we will continue to take your safety seriously.”

“This city values human dignity,” said Chu. “There are a few who commit hate crimes and they will end.”

Petrovic and two other speakers, Greg Chute and Joan-E, who came dressed in drag, agreed the verbal assaults still continue unabated, especially in the West End.

While assaults are comparatively rare, Chute said hardly a day goes by that he isn’t called names by people in passing cars.

And, Joan-E said people are reluctant sometimes to report crimes because they may be drunk or taking drugs and worry that the police will arrest them for that.

“The police don’t care about that,” he said. “They’re here to protect us.”

Several municipal and federal politicians attended the rally but were not invited to speak.

Kandola returns to court Tuesday.

The vicious spree happened on a street crowded with revelers several hours after the annual Vancouver gay Pride Parade, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the area.

Police say Khalid Alzghoul, 31, faces 17 charges, including assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon and a count of theft under $5,000.

The downtown spree began after the man fled a store without paying for some items. Police say he then went to a lounge, where he hit six people, knocking one of them unconscious. Then he went to a nearby restaurant patio, where he hit two women and a man they were with who chased him.

Most of the injured were released from hospital on Sunday night. Two people were kept overnight but police say their injuries were minor.

Const. Jana McGuinness says Alzghoul is known to police and has had “several brushes” with officers over the past couple of years.