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A B.C. Supreme Court judge has issued a default judgment against a blogger who used his website to carry out what the court described as a campaign of defamation and attempted extortion against a Kelowna, B.C., family that runs a fruit-packing business.
The judgment comes in a defamation case by Sandher Fruit Packers Ltd. and members of the Sandher family against Daryl MacAskill, the man behind the website Gangsterism Out. The site features dozens of articles accusing the family of involvement in organized crime, murder and drug trafficking – claims the family maintains are entirely fabricated.
In a sharply worded ruling, Justice John Gibb-Carsley struck MacAskill’s defence, effectively awarding the Sandhers a win in the defamation case by default. The judge noted MacAskill did not attend multiple court hearings, despite evidence he was aware of them and had been “properly served with application materials.”
“Mr. MacAskill has fallen so far below the standards expected of litigants both in his compliance with the rules and by acting in a manner that constitutes an abuse of the court’s process that he should be disentitled from continuing to defend against this proceeding,” Gibb-Carsley wrote.
‘Unsupported hate–filled vitriol’
According to the ruling, starting in early 2024, MacAskill used the online aliases “Ace” and “Ace Ventura” in what the judge described as “an ongoing campaign of unsupported hate-filled vitriol.”
The judgment states MacAskill wrote dozens of posts about the Sandher family accusing them of connections to international drug cartels, terrorist organizations and involvement in various criminal activities including human trafficking, gangland murders, drug smuggling and chemical weapons development.
The ruling notes the website is hosted in the United States, a factor that makes it difficult for the family to have the content removed without a U.S. court order.
In response, the Sandhers filed a defamation lawsuit and obtained a court injunction requiring MacAskill to remove the articles and cease posting defamatory statements.
However, the ruling notes MacAskill did not take down the offensive posts but rather he expanded his campaign to include allegations against B.C. Supreme Court judges, court staff and the plaintiffs’ lawyers. The judge found MacAskill used the litigation itself as a platform to launch baseless personal attacks against participants in the justice system, calling the conduct an abuse of process.
In early 2025, the judge found MacAskill in contempt of the injunction order during a hearing he did not attend, according to the judgment.
Justice Gibb-Carsley issued a warrant for his arrest. Despite this, the judge noted that as of December 2025, MacAskill remains at large and is believed to have relocated to Ontario to evade the warrant.
“Fleeing the jurisdiction as opposed to submitting to the court to address his alleged contempt demonstrates a further disregard for the court and the court processes,” Gibb-Carsley wrote.
Alleged extortion
Perhaps the most damaging evidence cited in the ruling involved MacAskill’s email communications with a consultant hired by the Sandher family, which the judge said suggested the blogger’s campaign was an attempt to extort money from the family.
In one of the emails MacAskill, using the alias Ace Ventura, reportedly taunted the family about their mounting legal fees, writing “Next court appearance WILL cost the Sandhers $50k+ and it is guaranteed to change not a thing.”
MacAskill allegedly demanded a payoff to stop the harassment.
“Tell these sickening MFers to make me an offer to remove everything,” the email read.
Justice Gibb-Carsley noted the messages “support an inference that Mr. MacAskill is motivated to extort some form of payment to stop his actions.”
A win by default
Because of MacAskill’s “clear, repeated and flagrant” failure to follow court rules or attend hearings, the judge took the rare step of striking MacAskill’s legal defence entirely, effectively handing the Sandher family a win by default in the defamation suit.
“There comes a time when courts must say ‘enough,’” Gibb-Carsley wrote.
The court will determine the dollar amount of damages MacAskill must pay for the harm caused to the family’s reputation and business at a later date.
The ruling also awards special costs, a punitive measure reserved for “reprehensible” conduct, citing MacAskill’s abuse of the court process and persistent defiance of court orders.
However, the family may face challenges collecting any financial compensation. The judge noted MacAskill claims to have no assets and continues, instead to “hide in the shadows of the internet.”