A man has been ordered by a judge not to have any contact with a Vancouver journalist for one year after showing up to his work and sending "aggressive, rude and offensive" emails.
On April 23, Christopher Anton Seres represented himself before Vancouver Provincial Court Justice Susan Sangha after an application was sought for a peace bond.
Seres entered a plea of "deny" on Feb. 10, 2025.
In court, Sangha asked if Seres was aware of the count against him and said 'Jeremy Hainsworth has reasonable grounds to fear and does fear that Christopher Anton Seres will cause personal injury to Jeremy Hainsworth.'
Hainsworth has worked as a journalist for 35 years and was working at Glacier Media during the incident.
In March 2023, Hainsworth reported on and wrote a story about a man convicted of mischief at a Burger King.
“When that conviction was entered, Mr. Seres started yelling at Judge Gordon that she had ‘made a criminal out of him’,” Hainsworth testified in court.
Crown prosecutor Adrienne Lee asked Hainsworth if this was what he wrote about in his article that was published, to which he said "that’s correct."
Hainsworth told the judge that in April 2023, Seres came to his work asking to talk to him.
"Mr. Seres was outside, holding his phone and filming me and complaining about the article that I had written,” said Hainsworth. “He seemed aggressive ... he looked on the edge of belligerence, so there was a somewhat frightening aspect."
After the interaction, a number of phone calls, voicemails and emails were sent to Hainsworth from a person believed to be Seres. Hainsworth contacted Vancouver police about the interactions.
Const. Kathlin Trudeau with the Vancouver Police Department said Hainsworth told her Seres was at his office and “he was extremely aggressive and confrontational to the point that staff did not feel safe.”
Several emails were forwarded to Trudeau for her investigation. On April 28, 2023, she sent an email to Seres instructing him to stop communicating with Hainsworth and anyone at Glacier Media.
Lee told the court Seres emailed back saying "That's bullshit. I can do whatever I want when the lies are printed. There is no restraining order, and I did nothing at all, just ask questions. I can do that forever and ever.”
Hainsworth told the judge the emails were concerning.
“They seemed to be becoming obsessive and that frightens me,” Hainsworth told the court. “It was harassing.”
‘I wish you all nothing but a terrifying death:’ Email
An email dated May 11, 2023 was sent to Hainsworth and Lee asked him to read it to the judge.
"I wish you all nothing but a terrifying death. I hope it comes sooner than later, and I pray that I can watch, I hate you f***ing people, racist, corrupt liars is all you are and I have solutions for people like all of you, and I will get justice,” read Hainsworth.
"It's all going to cost you people individually, and it's going to be expensive. I still have a lot of planning for perfection, but I will win and you will lose and you will get what you deserve. Yours truly.”
Seres could be seen nodding his head up and down, agreeing with what was being said as Hainsworth read out the email.
Lee asked him to describe how the email made him feel.
"I felt terrified … that scared the living hell out of me. I was on the bus and I was shaking. I'm still shaking. I can't stand reading this,” said Hainsworth.
Hainsworth told the court Seres returned to his office on May 24, 2023.
Lee asked him to tell the court how it made him feel that Seres attended his office and he said he felt “stalked."
At this point, Sangha had to interject and ask Seres to stop trying to "intimidate the witness" or "mock the witness."
Seres could be seen smirking, winking and smiling at Hainsworth as he took the witness stand.
Hainsworth said he didn't respond to any of the emails or phone calls, but the emails kept coming.
“I felt harassed and I felt like I was being stalked … I felt threatened,” says Hainsworth. “I was scared.”
Another email was sent in June and it read "Get ready for the main assault," according to Lee.
“It was terrifying,” said Hainsworth. “I just wanted this to stop. I was feeling frustrated, aggravated and scared. It had been going on for over a month. It just kept coming and coming and coming. I was having problems concentrating on my work. I was having problems sleeping.”
Trudeau explained how on June 15, 2023 she went to contact Seres at his residence and tried to phone him.
“In my policing experience, there are always two sides of the story, and so I wanted to have a conversation with Mr. Seres to find out what was going on for him,” Trudeau told the judge.
“He hung up on me a number of times after making comments and was unwilling to meet me in person to have a conversation, which resulted in me sending this email again.”
She was able to confirm the email being used to contact Hainsworth did belong to Seres.
"I actually exchanged a conversation about the contents of the emails, which allowed me to then be satisfied that the emails were going to the person I was speaking to on the phone, who I knew to be Christopher,” said Trudeau.
A formal no-contact order was issued to Seres on June 24.
Trudeau then received a response email from Seres at 5:22 a.m. and Lee explained that in the context of the email, it said “You can go f*** yourself, lady.”
More emails were sent to Trudeau again at 5:24 a.m., 5:25 a.m., 5:26 a.m., 5:28 a.m., 5:31 a.m. and 5:42 a.m.
During her testimony, Seres interrupted and said “What a liar” to which Sangha told him “That is inappropriate. I am going to ask you to try and restrain yourself.”
‘Mocking’ the witness
At one point, Seres told the judge "I want many people to die."
Sangha noticed Seres smiling at Hainsworth during his testimony and asked him what was so funny.
“I just want to remind you of the charge that you’re up for and to tell you quite frankly this doesn’t help you,” said Sangha. “Noted on the record that you’re smiling at the witness while he’s talking about being terrified and it doesn’t help you.”
Seres questioned if he should frown.
“That’s up to you, but mocking him the way you’re doing it isn’t helping your case,” Sangha said.
In response to the harassment he’s felt, Hainsworth removed his headshot from articles and contact information that used to be accessible to the public for him to do stories.
On April 24, Seres cross-examined Hainsworth for nearly 22 minutes before ending and saying "I don’t care anymore."
Seres showed the judge a piece of paper which resembled a flyer and said Hainsworth "did not give the full truth and description of the events that occurred."
Sangha responded by asking Seres what the relevance of that was related to the charges against him.
“So, you’re saying because the article was untrue, that your actions were justified?” Sangha said.
Seres said his actions were "not sure, justified yet, but we have proof of what should have happened on that day that you wrote about an article."
Sangha said the article was about what happened in court and she does not see the relevance.
“Did you ever think there was more to the story that needed explaining?” Seres asked Hainsworth.
“Not outside this courtroom, no,” responded Hainsworth.
Judge orders one-year 'no contact'
In her decision, Sangha called Seres’ emails "aggressive, rude and offensive” and that he expressed defiance towards the police officer when she issued a warning to stay away.
Instead, Seres sent "defiant, insulting emails in response."
Sangha said Hainsworth’s emotions were palpable when he was giving his testimony. She also noted Seres had stated he wanted many people to die and Hainsworth wasn’t the only person.
“I am completely satisfied that Mr. Hainsworth has reasonable grounds to fear and does fear Mr. Seres,” said Sangha, adding there were sufficient grounds to make the order.
Seres has been ordered not to have any contact with Hainsworth or Trudeau. He cannot attend the newsroom's office or email it for one year. He has also been ordered to not attend any location where Hainsworth lives or works. If Seres sees him, he must leave without any words or gestures.
The peace bond is supervised like a probation order due to the threat of harm to a community or person. If a peace bond is not obeyed, it could result in a criminal offence and the individual could be placed on probation for three years, fined up to $5,000 or be sentenced to jail.
