An assault charge has been approved against a police officer in Nanaimo in relation to an arrest of a woman for public intoxication in 2018.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said in a news release Thursday (Oct. 8) that it has approved a charge of assault causing bodily harm against Const. Tim Mason after an arrest and subsequent detention of an individual for public intoxication on Dec. 2, 2018.

The charges were sworn Oct. 8 in B.C. provincial court in Nanaimo and Mason鈥檚 first court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 8. According to the prosecution service, the charges were approved by a member of Crown counsel with no prior connection to Mason.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said it will issue no further information or comments as the matter is now before the courts.

In April, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. announced it filed a report on the incident, that 鈥渄etermined that reasonable grounds exist to believe that an officer may have committed offences in relation to the alleged application of force by a police officer.鈥�

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