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This article was published 19/5/2009 (4151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Canadian soldier was in court Tuesday trying to convince a Manitoba judge to authorize criminal charges against 15 Mounties and three RCMP support staff, claiming police zapped him repeatedly with a stun gun.

Matthew Gray, 47, said police improperly stunned him with a Taser at his home, in a Portage la Prairie hospital and in an ambulance heading to Winnipeg. The bulky former Canadian Forces Airborne Regiment soldier told court RCMP members came to his Portage la Prairie home on June 15, 2003, after he had an anxiety attack. Gray alleged the officers then arrested him and tortured him as they supervised him in the hours following receiving medical help in Portage and Winnipeg.

Gray told Judge John Guy he wants the RCMP and support staff to face criminal charges -- including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, aggravated assault, excessive force and negligence.

The former Agassiz Youth Centre guard and Portage la Prairie bar bouncer said the RCMP members have permanently injured his arms and legs by stunning him.

He told court he is the victim of a cover-up by police, suggesting the officers allegedly doctored notes.

"I was a sophisticated artist. Now, I can barely write," said Gray, who said he has post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder and is bipolar. Gray has waged an ongoing legal battle against the RCMP since June 2003.

That includes a $20-million lawsuit he filed in 2005 that named eight active or retired RCMP officers and the Attorney General of Canada.

Gray told court one female Mountie who allegedly grabbed his genital area in an ambulance on the way to Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre should face a charge of aggravated sexual assault. He said he can't comprehend why officers allegedly choked and stunned him in the emergency vehicle since he was strapped into a gurney and handcuffed, he said. "I was no threat. I wasn't moving," he said.

The RCMP has said in court documents that officers stunned Gray because he posed a safety threat.

The hearing is called a private prosecution, a rarely used right by citizens to try and convince a provincial court judge to authorize charges in cases where justice officials like police or Crown attorneys have declined to do so.

No charges have been laid against the officers.

In an unusual twist in the proceeding, Gray called a former RCMP officer with the Portage detachment to tell the court about his perceptions of the way Mounties investigated the incident. Sylvain Villeneuve said before June 2003 Gray was well known to Portage Mounties as a nightclub security worker who was helpful to police, he said.

"I found the RCMP investigation was totally improper," said Villeneuve, who told court he worked for the RCMP for 13 years before he left for medical reasons. Villeneuve said he reviewed extensive research and records compiled by Gray to come to his conclusions.

Marty Minuk is the independent prosecutor the Crown appointed to observe the case.

The hearing is scheduled to resume today.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca