Senior B.C. Mountie facing assault charges to plead not guilty: Lawyer

RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul speaks during an RCMP news conference, in Surrey B.C., on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Ethan Cairns / The Canadian Press) (ETHAN CAIRNS)

ABBOTSFORD — The lawyer for a senior British Columbia RCMP officer says his client intends to plead not guilty to assault charges laid after an alleged off-duty altercation in Abbotsford in July.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul was charged in September with two counts of assault and one count of assault causing bodily harm by choking, suffocating or strangling involving two people, whose identities are protected by a publication ban.

His lawyer David Butcher says Teboul will be pleading not guilty to the charges, but the case won’t be scheduled for trial until sometime in the new year, with the next hearing to fix a date scheduled for Dec. 18.

Special prosecutor Andi MacKay and Butcher made a brief appearance by video in court in Abbotsford on Monday, and the judge heard that Teboul’s trial is expected to last six days.

The BC Prosecution Service appointed MacKay as special prosecutor in August as the Abbotsford Police Department was still investigating the allegations against the officer, who was charged about a month later.

The prosecution service says special prosecutors are appointed “to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of justice” given the nature of the allegations and Teboul’s senior position of authority.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2025.