Kelowna orchardist family win injunction against serial harasser

A Kelowna orchardist family who became the latest target of an online serial harasser have won a court injunction against him. According to a Sept. 19 BC Supreme Court decision, Justice Ward Branch said Daryl Grant MacAskill's words were "not credible" and barred him from publishing any more harassing blogs about the family behind Sandher Fruit Packers. The justice also ordered MacAskill to remove several blogs he's written about the family over the last six months. In March this year, MacAskill, who writes under the name Ace Ventura on his website Gangsterism Out, began writing a series of blogs about the Sandher family. The decision said the blogs accuse the family of everything from murder and money laundering to having connections with Mexican drug cartels and terrorist organizations. Justice Branch said some of the information in the blogs is defamatory. "There is no useful evidence before me supporting such hurtful and extreme statements beyond (MacAskill's) own personal belief in their truth," the Justice said. "The only defence (MacAskill) suggested he planned to advance in relation to these claims was justification."  READ MORE: 'HE WILL NOT STOP': Serial harasser has Kelowna family in crosshairs https://infotel.ca/newsitem/he-will-not-stop-serial-harasser-has-kelowna-family-in-crosshairs/it106171 It's unclear why MacAskill chose the Sandher family but over the years he's targeted others and then hit them up for money. In 2022, MacAskill was ordered to pay $190,000 in damages to a BC investment company after he embarked on a campaign of online harassment and extortion. He sent the company emails that read "pay me off" after he wrote blogs accusing them of being a scam. MacAskill spent 15 days in jail after being found guilty of contempt of court during the case. The judge later said she hoped the $190,000 damage order would deter MacAskill from his "manipulative, harmful, and socially destructive behaviour" in the future. It didn't. In March, he began writing about the Sandher family. The court documents said the family sent MacAskill a cease and desist letter in July https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kelowna-orchardists-striking-back-against-serial-harasser/it106260 . "Since then, (MacAskill) has made further posts, including posts about (Sandhers’) counsel and sent numerous emails to various lawyers and employees of the plaintiffs’ counsel’s firm." It's a pattern of behaviour he has done before. MacAskill once set up 184 separate accounts in a single day after being blocked from an online investor website a decade ago. One company told iNFOnews.ca they paid him almost $10,000 to stop harassing them and go away. MacAskill has a slew of civil cases under his belt and he spent six months in jail for tax fraud in the mid-1990. In the decision, the Sandher family said MacAskill's campaign against them has left them in fear for their personal safety. The family also sid the blogs have damaged their standing and reputation in their Okanagan community. "Bir and his wife provide evidence that they no longer attend their temple and do not practice their religion in their chosen way because of the treatment they receive in public," the decision said. "Gurtaj says he deals with anxiety when interacting with anyone he doesn’t know out of fear for whether they have read (MacAskills) publications." While the Justice said MacAskill had provided no evidence to back up his allegations, he has filed a Protection of Public Participation application more commonly known as a SLAPP suit. Such civil suits are used as a tactic to silence critics. Ultimately, Justice Branch ordered MacAskill to remove some of his blogs and to stop publishing anymore. The Justice also ordered MacAskill to pay costs. To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer mailto:bbulmer@infonews.ca  or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .