Counsel for OPCC resigns from Myles Gray hearing over obscenity – BC

By Staff

The Canadian Press

Posted January 26, 2026 2:14 pm

Updated January 26, 2026 2:45 pm

1 min read

Descrease article font size

Increase article font size

The counsel for the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner of British Columbia at the hearing into the 2015 death of Myles Gray says he is resigning from the long-awaited proceeding after coming under a B.C. Law Society investigation for an obscenity uttered last week.

Richard Neary, the lawyer for Brad Hickford, read a statement by his client saying he is “bewildered and troubled” by a recording of the obscenity that was captured on an audio stream of the hearing in Vancouver last week, and he is withdrawing with “almost unbearable regret.”

Adjudicator Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey says the “unfortunate and vulgar” remark appeared to have been directed at either her or a female lawyer representing one of the seven Vancouver officers who have denied wrongdoing in the beating death of Gray, but she has doubts about who said it.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Arnold-Bailey says she hopes Hickford will be able to resume his duties, calling for the law society to investigate as it sees fit and urging parties involved to “get over it and get on with it.”

Story continues below advertisement

Neary had said Friday that Hickford denied uttering the remark, but now says that while his client cannot recall making it, it’s possible he did so unintentionally.

The audio stream of Wednesday’s proceedings had captured someone whispering that another person was “stupid” and calling them an obscenity sometimes used to describe a woman.

Trending Now

The hearing has now adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday to allow the lawyers for the seven officers to respond to Arnold-Bailey.

More to come.

2:55
OPCC hearing into Myles Gray death now underway

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press