BARRIE

A courtroom erupted in applause Thursday when a judge sentenced a local police officer to jail for one year for a vicious mall attack that was captured on video.

“This type of conduct will not by tolerated,” Justice Lorne Chester said in sentencing Const. Jason Nevill. “Not now, not ever. This law applies to everyone — me, the king and the common man.”

Nevill received 12 months in jail for assault causing bodily harm, obstructing justice and fabricating the evidence in his notes to make the innocent victim look guilty.

The man, Jason Stern, then 25, was returning to the Bayfield Mall to retrieve his lost wallet Nov. 20, 2010, when two burly security guards told him to wait for police because Stern’s friend had broken a Styrofoam Christmas ornament earlier that night.

A seven-minute video shows the large, muscled Nevill walking up to the smaller Stern and within a few seconds he attacks him, throws him to the ground and continues the beating. The two guards — who were never charged or called to testify at the trial — assisted the officer by holding Stern face down in his own pool of blood.

The judge noted that Nevill has shown no remorse for his crime and dragged the case through a lengthy trial.

“He says he didn’t do anything wrong,” said Chester, who noted the handcuffed victim was thrown around by the officer like a “rag doll.”

Stern suffered a concussion, several cuts and bruises and required stitches to his head. Three days later, when more bruises developed, he was “black and blue, his body covered with goose eggs and he was barely able to walk,” Chester said. Stern still suffers from memory and concentration loss.

Outside of court, the soft-spoken Stern, flanked by his mom and dad, said he is “frustrated” that Nevill has refused to acknowledge he has done anything wrong.

“I think 99.9% of Canadians disagree with him,” he said, adding he still believes “most police officers are good people.”

Initially Nevill fabricated the evidence and charged Stern with assaulting a police officer. Stern, who has never been in trouble, was terrified to learn he was facing two years in jail but his parents hired local lawyer Mike Millar, who obtained the video.

The officer’s lawyer, David Butt, urged the judge to give Nevill less time in jail.

“Jail is a dangerous place for a police officer to be,” Butt said, adding if Nevill — who is still on paid leave — went to jail he could lose his job.

The defence said it plans to appeal the case — which means Nevill could be out of jail within a few days.

A million-dollar lawsuit filed by Stern against Nevill is still pending.