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Constable Matt Pouli “overreacted. He punched Mr. Rollins,” said Justice Paul Sweeny of Ontario’s Superior Court. “When Mr. Rollins went down on the ground, PC Pouli continued to strike him. Mr. Rollins was bleeding from the face … PC Pouli was the aggressor and applied force to Mr. Rollins without his consent and with no justification at law.”

However, a spokesman for the Niagara Regional Police Service said Wednesday the constable “is not facing disciplinary action at this time.”

Meanwhile, Niagara Chief Jeff McGuire said he has asked that the ruling be reviewed, and that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on it before the review is completed.

Rollins said Tuesday he wanted to consult with others before speaking at length, but said the incident in 2008 had lasting effects.

“It changed my life,” he said in a brief interview. “I was in police foundations and I got assaulted and, you know, I dropped out as a result. I still have problems to this day because of that incident.”

The episode began in the early morning of Aug. 14 when police entered a home in Niagara Falls to clear out the birthday party after noise complaints from neighbours.

Pouli and another officer who testified at the trial said there was fighting when they arrived and that partygoers were swearing at them and calling them “pigs.” Pouli said Rollins was getting in his face and at one point grabbed him by the arm.

The officer says he told the teenager he was under arrest and that Rollins, a muscular amateur boxer, then put up his hands in a fighting stance, so he hit him with an open hand, then handcuffed him after he fell to the floor.