After defying court orders and continuing a prolific campaign of publishing unfounded allegations about a 琉璃神社-based family and their fruit-packing business, a Supreme Court Justice has issued an arrest warrant for the man behind the blog 'Gangsterism Out.'

The defendant, Daryl Grant MacAskill, is known by multiple online aliases and uses the name Ace Ventura on his Gangsterism Out blog and associated emails to media outlets.

"The statements also include crude, racist and homophobic language and content. The plaintiffs argue that there is no basis for any of the statements and that their reputation and livelihoods have been adversely impacted by the baseless accusations," said B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gibb-Carsley in his judgement on May 6.

The family that owns and operates Sandher Fruit Packers Ltd., filed a civil claim in the Supreme Court of B.C. against MacAskill in August 2024, requesting that the "campaign of defamation and harassment," that began in March 2024, be stopped.

In September, the plaintiffs' application for an interim and interlocutory order stating that MacAskill must stop publishing content about the Sandhers was granted by Justice Ward Branch. Interlocutory injunctions are used by the court to prevent a person from doing something before the conclusion of the trial, at which time an official ruling is made.

Despite the injunction, MacAskill continued to post about the Sandher farm, business and family on his blog. 

In the Gangsterism Out posts about the Sandhers, MacAskill erroneously links environmental fines for improper effluent disposal faced by the Packing plant to gang activity, murders and other criminal behaviour. 

Justice Branch found that the claims made by MacAskill were "not credible" and found that there is no indication that the Sandher family have a "poor reputation," relating to the allegations of gang activity.

Additionally, MacAskill published two stories containing unfounded allegations of corruption about the Justice Branch on his blog.

In November, the plaintiffs brought forward an application requesting that the courts find MacAskill in contempt of the injunction order as he had not stopped the online campaign of harassment and had not removed any of the defamatory materials from the website. A finding of contempt means that a person was being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law. MacAskill did not appear at the contempt application but was made aware of the proceedings and the injunction order on multiple occasions.

"I am satisfied that the defendant may be guilty of contempt by violating the terms of the Injunction Order by continuing to post or not removing posts from his blog that contain the defamatory claims," ruled Justice Gibb-Carsley.

The justice also stated that a warrant for arrest be issued for Daryl MacAskill, on May 6, and that he "be brought before the court to answer for his contempt."

Justice Gibb-Carsley also denied MacAskill's application to be granted an opportunity to cross-examine the Sandhers and his Protection of Public Participation Act application, in which he calls for dismissal of the defamation suit on the basis that it "unduly limits expressions of public interest."

The president of Sandher Fruit Packing, Prabtaj Sandher, released a statement to Capital News regarding the ongoing lawsuit and arrest warrant.

"We are grateful for the court鈥檚 recognition of the severity of this issue and the measures taken to protect our reputation," said Prabtaj.

He said that the "relentless spread of false and harmful claims" has been difficult for his family to manage. 

"What makes this especially painful is seeing the reputation of my parents, who have worked tirelessly their entire lives with unwavering dedication to this farm, put at risk."

Additionally, Prabtaj would like to extend an apology to those who were "unfairly dragged into this" and were the subject of defamatory blog posts in connection to the Sandher family. 琉璃神社 City Councillor Mohini Singh was mentioned in several of the Gangsterism Out blog posts. 

"These erroneous allegations have caused many people a lot of stress and seriously impacted their lives. I hope the courts come down hard on him and set an example for others who might be thinking of doing the same thing," said Singh.

The whereabouts of MacAskill are currently unknown and he does not have a fixed address. 

"Our priority remains serving our community with integrity, dedication, and an honest living through our work at Sandher Fruit Packers," said Prabtaj.