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His suit against the B.C. government alleged that he “was intentionally assaulted and battered” by another prisoner named Chris Fulmer with connections to the Red Scorpion gang, and that jail officials were negligent by not recognizing that he was incompatible with the Scorpion.

Both lawsuits were settled in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Some details of the agreements were contained in an annual government report titled “Payments under the Crown Proceeding Act,” which was tabled last week.

In Margison’s case, the report said: “The plaintiff claims the province is liable for damages the plaintiff suffered when assaulted by Leonard Cardinal on or about Aug. 12, 2012.

“He claims that in not preventing the assault, the province was negligent and/or breached his rights under section 7 and section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

And in both of the cases, the report said that a government lawyer advised that “the plaintiff might have a successful claim” and “that it is in the public interest to settle the claim.”

Lawyers for the two injured men could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Because of his brain injury, Margison was unable to assist his lawyers in piecing together the events that led up to the assault. They had filed several motions in B.C. Supreme Court to try to get North Fraser records related to gang inmates.

Cardinal pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the attack, telling a Surrey provincial court judge that he had heard Margison was going to beat him so launched a pre-emptive strike. The judge didn’t buy his explanation, and noted the horrendous injuries that Margison suffered.

Margison’s lawyers later learned their client had been visited at North Fraser in May 2012 by police to warn him that the Hells Angels wanted him dead.

And they determined that Cardinal had been in contact with a jailed Hells Angel just a day before the attack.

Margison’s close associate and former co-accused Troy McKinnon, who was convicted in the kidnapping case, was shot to death in a gangland hit in Nanaimo in January.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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