‘That is not the Corey that I know’: Character witnesses speak at disgraced Guelph Police officer’s penalty hearing [Video]

The penalty hearing for Guelph Police constable Corey McArthur has heard from two character witnesses, both supporting an eventual return to policing for the officer who has admitted to assaulting a teen who was handcuffed to a hospital bed.

“There was never a time when he was not professional,” Det.-Const. Mary-Ellen McEwen testified about McArthur’s interactions with members of the public. “He was kind.”

McEwen says she and McArthur worked on the same platoon at the Guelph Police Service, though in different zones, for about a three-and-a-half year period between August 2004 and June 2008. She says though they typically would not answer calls for service together, during that time they would have attended what she estimates as “a couple hundred” calls together.

At the time McEwen was a young officer, she says she learned a lot from McArthur, describing him as quiet and always there to teach or help. …