ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The province's Supreme Court has dismissed an application from a man who asked to be allowed access to a public wharf in the Placentia area since being banned from it is causing him irreparable mental and physical harm.
The Placentia Area Harbour Authority banned Wayne Fulford from using the public wharf facility in Jerseyside under the Petty Trespass Act, sending him letters last November and January and asking him to remove his boat and pay his berthing fees. He was eventually charged under the act, and is set to go to court on the charge in August.
In February, Fulford began a proceeding in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, saying the wharf facility is not covered by the act - and that even if it were, the act would still allow him access - and asking for an injunction to allow him access to the wharf pending a decision in his case. That application was heard last week.
Tony Barry, the harbour authority's vice-president, told the court Fulford had been unhappy with the management of the wharf facility, and had declined to discuss his issues with the harbour authority's board of directors.
"(He) has instead harassed patrons at the Jerseyside Wharf Facilty, contacted the media and removed harbour authority property without cause, in particular a life preserver from the wharf," Barry said in court documents.
Barry said he had been informed that Fulford had approached and harassed other users of the wharf to join his protest against the board of directors by not paying their berthage.
"Mr. Fulford has also sat in his car in the parking lot of the Jerseyside Wharf Facility and waved at members of the board of directors," Barry said, noting the board has "felt this to be mocking us and a direct response to our notices to remain away from the wharf."
Fulford told the court his boat had been damaged in a collision with a boat owned by Barry last September, and can’t be safely moved. The court heard some evidence that members of the media contacted Fulford, instead of the other way around, and the life preserver that was taken from the wharf was cracked and unfit for use.
Justice David Orsborn noted the only evidence in support of Fulford's application was an affidavit and testimony from his wife, Geraldine Fulford. She told the court that prior to being banned from the wharf, Fulford regularly attended to his boat and chatted with other boat owners and local fishermen, and the wharf was the centre of his social life.
Since being blocked from the wharf, Fulford has become confused and forgetful, withdrawn from everyone and isolated from family and friends, she said.
"The decline in his mental health which is attributable to being blocked from the Jerseyside wharf has also had a negative effect on his physical health, as he is no longer showing interest in his daily activities," she wrote.
Under cross-examination, Geraldine Fulford acknowledged there was nothing stopping her husband from socializing with family and friends at other locations.
Orsborn dismissed Fulford’s application, saying he had not established that he has suffered irreparable harm by being banned from the wharf. The lack of evidence from Fulford, as well as his other longtime ongoing health issues, had to be considered, the judge determined.
It's difficult to accept that there is a link between Fulford’s ban from the wharf and what is said to be a deterioration in his health, Orsborn ruled.
"It is clear, and readily understandable, that Mr. Fulford’s social interaction with his friends at the wharf is an important part of his daily life. Community and a sense of belonging is something to be valued. But as Geraldine Fulford acknowledged, there are other opportunities for social interaction."
Orsborn declined to comment on the scope of the Petty Trespass Act, because of the pending proceedings against Fulford in provincial court.
