Darren Varley
Darren Varley (1973–1999) was a man from Alberta, Canada who died after a scuffle with police in a jail cell in Alberta after he was arrested for drunkenness. Background Born in Pincher Creek, Alberta, Varley was a truck driver who lived in Pincher Creek his entire life. Arrest On October 2, 1999, he had just finished a long day at work and headed to a local pub where he was to meet his sister. After several hours of drinking, Varley had become intoxicated. At the same time, RCMP Constable Michael Ferguson had just finished taking two prospective officers for an extensive ride in his police car, showing them the ins-and-outs of the area. He dropped them off just an hour before the pubs closed at 3:00a.m., according to the Crown. Ferguson received a call from the RCMP dispatcher based in Red Deer about an intoxicated complainant, Darren Varley, reporting a missing person. Varley phoned from the local hospital where he was checking on his friend, Tuckey, who had been just beaten up in a fight in which both men had been involved in with two other men. The fight had occurred in the pub parking lot as a result of Varley knocking down one of the men's wives. The drunken Varley had given the RCMP dispatcher the first statement on what he incorrectly believed to be a missing woman, Chandelle. Constable Ferguson decided to arrest Darren Varley for public drunkenness and bring him to the local police detachment. After placing Varley in the police car, Constable Ferguson returned to the hospital to investigate the missing persons report. Within minutes Varley had kicked out the police car window and attempted to slide out of the vehicle. Death While at the police department, and booking Varley into the last jail cell, Constable Ferguson stated that Varley had pulled his bulletproof vest over his head and gained momentary control of his pistol through what experts testified was a little-known defect in the holster design. An altercation occurred at which time Ferguson regained enough control of the gun to fire two quick shots. One grazed the side of Varley's abdomen and the other shot pierced his skull just behind the ear. Varley, now breathing with severe difficulty, lay wounded on the cell floor while Constable Ferguson called the ambulance, which attended moments later. Varley was airlifted to a Calgary hospital where he was pronounced dead. Court verdict After two attempts by the Crown which both ended in mistrials from hung juries to try Michael Ferguson for the killing of Darren Varley, a third attempt was made to try him for manslaughter. Five years after the killing of Darren Varley, Constable Michael Ferguson was found guilty and convicted of manslaughter. The mandatory sentence for manslaughter in Canada, is a four-year closed prison term in incidents involving a firearm. Justice Ged Hawco, ruled to make a constitutional exemption to the firearm clause because the police revolver was present as a result of Constable Ferguson's duties and