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Liquid Zoo operator pleads guilty to common assault

“It’s a jab, it’s a poke, it’s almost like a slap,” said Kim Ross.
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Dale Habib of Kelowna’s Liquid Zoo pleaded guilty Friday to common assault for a Jan. 15, 2016 run- in that his lawyer described as almost inconsequential.

“It’s a jab, it’s a poke, it’s almost like a slap,” said Kim Ross, a defence lawyer out of Alberta said of his view of video footage of Habib’s latenight interaction with a Matthew Oddy.

“He was doing it to say ‘hey, don’t do this.’”

Oddy made a complaint against Habib and a Liquid Zoo bouncer at around 1 p.m. Jan. 15, 2015 for an incident that happened around 2 a.m that morning.

He said he’d been pushed against a wall by his throat and punched in the face by Liquid Zoo staff.

Police who viewed the footage later didn’t think that there was cause to go forward with a charge of assault, given that it looked as though Oddy had inserted himself into a situation that wasn’t ideal.

Crown counsel pushed ahead regardless.

Habib pleaded not guilty to assault, guilty to the lesser charge of common assault and BC provincial court judge Cathie Heinrichs gave him a conditional discharge with one year probation. Habib is not to have contact with Oddy for that time.