Image Credit: Shutterstock

A B.C. man that lost his dentures while arguing with his neighbour over their shared fence, has been awarded $1,700 after he took the case to the small claims court.

Todd King says his upper denture fell out while arguing with his neighbour, Bob Bjerregaard, and that Bjerregaard refused to give the chompers back.

Bjerregaard denies having his neighbour's false teeth, so King took him to a Civil Resolution Tribunal to resolve the matter.

According to a Feb. 15 Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, King and Bjerregaard got into a heated argument in November 2021. While King was standing at their shared fence shouting at Bjerregaard his dentures fell out onto Bjerregaard's side of the fence.

King says a third neighbour – who King had also just had an argument with – went to pick them up, but Bjerregaard stopped him.

"Mr. King says Mr. Bjerregaard picked up his denture and refused to return it. He says he called the police to retrieve the denture from Mr. Bjerregaard who denied having it," the decision reads.

READ MORE: Big White vacation rental owner who told guests to ignore public health order loses court case

The decision doesn't say where in B.C. the incident took place, but the RCMP was called, although no evidence from the police was submitted in the small claims case.

The Tribunal found that a statement from the third neighbour who witnessed the event largely collaborated with King's version. The third neighbour says they tried to convince Bjerregaard to return the denture several times, but he refused.

Bjerregaard disputes this.

Bjerregaard says King was intoxicated at the time and he's not responsible for King losing his denture. He says he didn't see or has ever had the denture.

However, the Tribunal disagreed.

The Tribunal says it finds the third neighbour to be a neutral witness.

"I find it unlikely that (the third neighbour) would be dishonest in their evidence to favour Mr. King... given they were the ones who were initially fighting," the Tribunal said. "Given this, I find it unlikely that (the third neighbour) would be dishonest in their evidence to favour Mr. King and see no other reason to doubt the credibility or reliability of their evidence."

Based on the affidavit of the third neighbour the Tribunal finds Bjerregaard liable for not returning the denture.

READ MORE: B.C. Tribunal rules ballet lessons via Zoom not good enough reason for a refund

While King had claimed $3,480 for the cost of his replacement denture plus $1,520 for pain and suffering, the Tribunal dismissed the amounts.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled that Bjerregaard pay King $1,500 to cover the replacement cost of the denture and $200 for pain and suffering for the month-and-a-half King went without his upper denture while waiting for a replacement.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022