A Thunder Bay Police Service staff sergeant was sentenced to three years in jail Wednesday morning for breach of trust and obstruction of justice.
Mike Dimini was found guilty of breach of trust and obstruction of justice in February, following a provincial police investigation of about two years into a TBPS incident at a home in 2020. He was also charged with two counts of assault in separate cases, one of which was dismissed and the other acquitted in February.
On Wednesday, Justice Michael Block sentenced Mr. Dimini to three years for breach of trust and two years for obstructing justice, to be served at the same time.
In his decision, Justice Block said Mr. Dimini entered a residence where “his presence had not been requested” as other officers were responding to a call to recover stolen property in 2020.
The case centred on whether Mr. Dimini lawfully entered the residence and edits made to another officer’s report.
Mr. Dimini’s lawyer Michelle O’Doherty said he plans to appeal both the conviction and the sentence. Ms. O’Doherty was asking for 15 to 18 months in custody for her client.
He has been released on bail pending an appeal hearing.
Mr. Dimini, who remains on leave from the service, has an Ontario Police Services Act hearing set for June 4 on two counts of discreditable conduct. He could face disciplinary action.
In November, 2020, Mr. Dimini went to a Thunder Bay residence, while four other officers were outside, to retrieve a stolen TV and tools that belonged to his then father-in-law.
Thunder Bay police officers Kelly Walsh and Kerry Dunning were among the responding officers at the home where it was believed there was stolen property. The officers testified Mr. Dimini showed up and proceeded to gain entry, without a warrant, arresting a woman. When the officers raised concerns to Mr. Dimini about entering the residence without a warrant, he replied that it was probably a Charter breach but not a big deal.
Mr. Walsh and Mr. Dunning said their supervisors didn’t take their complaints seriously and ultimately cleared Mr. Dimini of the allegations.
The two officers then filed human rights complaints in October, 2021 alleging senior ranks didn’t properly investigate their concerns about Mr. Dimini.
The sentence comes as two other former senior members of the police service have faced charges in separate criminal cases.
Holly Walbourne, the former in-house lawyer to former Thunder Bay police chief Sylvie Hauth, was alleged to have lied to the province’s police watchdog. She was found not guilty of obstruction of justice and breach of trust last month.
Ms. Hauth, who was suspended in 2022 and retired in 2023, was charged in April, 2024 with obstruction of a public officer or peace officer, breach of trust by a public officer, and two counts of obstruction of justice. Her trial has been delayed.