CANADA
CTV
Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, June 22, 2015
VANCOUVER – The former Vancouver Olympics boss has testified he was told allegations he physically abused a former student decades earlier could be made to “go away” for a payment of $5,000 – but he denied ever insinuating a freelance journalist was complicit in the extortion.
John Furlong told a civil court trial he holds Laura Robinson accountable for making his life “unbearable,” which included circumstances relating to the accidental death of his wife in a car crash in Ireland.
But he said he never suggested Robinson was involved in an extortion attempt that came just months before the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“That stunned me. It was a shocking moment. I sat at my desk and I wondered, is this about embarrassing me or embarrassing the Olympics?” Furlong told B.C. Supreme Court on Monday, revealing details of a secretive meeting publicly for the first time.
Furlong was testifying in his defence as Robinson seeks damages for defamation over comments Furlong made after the journalist wrote two articles carrying allegations about him.
The stories reported allegations of abuse stemming from Furlong’s position teaching physical education at a Roman Catholic school that was mostly attended by First Nations students in British Columbia’s Interior.
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