A man allegedly attacked in a downtown Trail alley in April 2023 testified in Rossland Provincial Court today that he wasn’t sure that he was going to survive.
Darryl Wong said he recalled thinking “‘What a way to leave this world’ … I felt like ‘This is it. This is the one that is going to kill me.'”
Wong was the first witness in the trial of Greg Ferraby, a Trail firefighter accused of assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats. Fellow firefighters Richard Morris and Wesley Parsons were also initially charged in the case, but on Friday those charges were stayed.
Under direct examination by Crown counsel Bryan Pankoff, Wong testified in a low voice that at the time of the incident he was living in his car, which he often parked near the library because he felt safe there.
He testified that Ferraby approached him on April 13, 2023 and said he “fit the description of someone who was following his niece and her mother around town.”
Wong said he denied it and pressed Ferraby to call the police. “He told me ‘If you ever follow them around, I’m going to [expletive] you up.'”
Wong said he was “completely shocked … He really scared me. I was shaken.” Wong said he called police at the urging of a witness, but the court was not told the outcome.
Wong said he recognized Ferraby as someone who often responded to drug poisonings in the alley behind the shelter as a first responder. He added that years ago, while fishing at Sunningdale, someone also introduced him to Ferraby.
Wong testified that 10 days after the incident, he was having dinner with a friend in a Spokane Street apartment and went to take the garbage into a dumpster when he noticed a “commotion” in the alley one block over, where the homeless shelter was at the time.
He said three figures walked toward him, whom he recognized as Ferraby, Parsons, and Morris. He said Ferraby pointed at him and said “You lied to me. You put your hand on her.”
Wong said he replied: “What are you talking about?”
At that point, Wong said one of the men punched him in the head before Ferraby delivered a second punch, which left him on the ground. “I was not expecting it,” Wong said. “They were around me. There was nowhere to run.”
Wong said he was repeatedly punched and kicked, but he couldn’t keep track of the number of blows, which landed on his face, head, shoulder, and back.
Wong said the attack took him by surprise, and he did not try to fight back. He did not recall anyone saying anything once the punches began.
He said the attack ended when he heard a woman yell “Call the police.” He recalled an officer arriving right away and two paramedics taking him to hospital.
Wong said he spent at least a month with his shoulder in a sling. He still has visible injuries on the back of his head and on part of his shoulder that did not rejoin properly, he said, and he experiences ongoing numbness and tightness.
After the incident, Wong said he started finding other places to park his car, staying away from the downtown, as he was worried at night that someone would come after him.
“I don’t deal well with trauma,” he testified, adding that he tries not to think about the incident “because it festers.”
Wong said he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and he used to use cocaine, and then started using meth to wean himself from cocaine.
He said he has been off drugs for over two years, but at the time of the incident, he was still using meth, which he found calmed him. Wong said he now lives in the Lower Mainland because he’s afraid to come back to Trail.
Some surveillance video was played for the court showing people walking close to where the alleged attack occurred.
Defence counsel Mason Goulden began cross-examining Wong before the case broke for lunch.
Judge Craig Sicotte is hearing the case alone. Prior to the start of testimony, Sicotte was told the Crown intends to call “multiple” witnesses, including several police officers.
Crown counsel Bryan Pankoff also said he expects the defence to present two Charter of Rights and Freedoms applications. The first is under the Jordan principle, which says criminal trials in provincial court should be completed within 18 months.
The other, which Pankoff said caught him off guard because he only learned about it yesterday, has to do with video evidence.
