Latest news with #CourtofKing'sBench
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Second wave of extortions with transnational links sparks concern in South Asian community
Article content 'It seems to be different as far as the players that are involved, but some association and some linkages,' Laforce said. Article content 'I think our very first media release back then, we didn't, we weren't aware of all of those connections. Obviously, when things kind of like pop up across the country at the same time, there's something. So we definitely had our Spidey radar up but, but once we actually dove deeper, we are seeing connections across the country,' he said, citing similar outbreaks in Peel Region, Ontario (just west of Toronto) and British Columbia's Lower Mainland. Article content Among the common threads, leveraging organized crime groups, street gang groups, and others 'radicalized to participate in that in that lifestyle,' Laforce said. Article content An Indian citizen accused of being an absentee ringleader in the fleet of arson crimes and multi-millions of dollars in extortions targeted by Gaslight has a court date of August 1 — but he's still in Dubai, awaiting extradition to Canada. Article content Article content In 2024, Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, 35, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on separate criminal charges. Article content 'Our provincial minister right now is in conversations. I know the federal minister 'It gets it gets complicated. I don't even know all of the complexities as you're dealing with national governments, right? And so they have different rules, and certainly nothing that they have to do based on what we might be asking of an external government to Canada … There's some nuances to it where it requires just a more complex negotiation, but definitely our government of Canada is certainly doing what they can in that space,' Laforce said. Article content In country or not, Dhaliwal is slated for court appearance on Aug. 1 in the Court of King's Bench. Article content He has an extensive court history in Alberta. Among the most recent, some 21 outstanding charges between October 2023 and July 2024 include extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, discharging firearm with a criminal organization, break and enter of a dwelling. Article content Article content One woman and five other men were arrested on July 25, 2024 in connection with Gaslight. Article content Asht Divnoor Singh, 20, was sentenced on 10 charges dating back as far as July 2024. They included extortion, arson of property, conspiracy to commit, and instructing a person to commit. He was sentenced in May to 54 months in prison at Bowden Institution. Less enhanced pre-trial credit of 454 days, he has 1,188 days to be served. Article content Manav Heer, 20, faces 14 charges, including extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, and unlawful use of an imitation firearm. Heer has pre-trial conference set for July 31 and an expected summary disposition on Aug. 1 in Court of King's Bench. Article content Gurkaran Singh, 20, faces 13 charges including extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, and instruction, dating back as far as November, 2023. Singh has pre-trial conference set for July 31 and arraignment on Aug. 1. Article content Parminder Singh, 21, faces 17 charges dating as far back as October 2023, including extortion, conspiracy to commit, arson of property, discharge of a firearm criminal organization, possession of a prohibited/loaded weapon, assaulting a police officer with a weapon, pointing a firearm. He's set for pretrial conference on July 31 and arraignment on Aug. 1 in Court of King's bench. Article content Related charges have been stayed in the cases against a male who couldn't be named because he was 17 years old at the time, and against Jashandeep Kaur, 20. Article content The thing law enforcers have to fear may be fear itself, as underreporting by victims isn't helping in the battle against this newest crime trend. Article content 'It's like everything. The more information we have, it's easier for us to respond to. If we don't have all that information, it's hard for us to have a fulsome response,' Laforce said. Article content Article content According to a new EPS report, What We Are Hearing, crime reporting rates are low for some crimes in the past 12 months, with 70 per cent of victims reporting a personal crime, 58 per cent of victims reporting a property crime, and just 39 per cent of victims reporting a financial crime. Article content 'Obviously, when you're dealing with an extortion, they're preying on that fear of violence, right? When they have some definite violence that's actually occurring, there's, again, it's just really hyping up that fear,' Laforce said. Article content While arsons are easier for police usually get 'plugged into' because they're hard to hide, extortions might fly under the radar, depending on how much people report them. Article content 'When we have somebody that's scared and they're seeing violence that's actually occurring, you know what? How can you blame them for being scared, right?' Laforce said. Article content Article content 'So what we just have to say is, 'Listen, by communicating with us, it's not going to change any risks to you, but help give us some of that information so we can follow up investigatively to actually build in that public safety that's needed by actually holding these people accountable.'
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Man's appeal of 2nd-degree murder conviction dismissed
Manitoba's highest court has dismissed a man's claim he acted in self defence when he beat his roommate to death with a piece of lumber. Justin Monro was found guilty of second-degree murder in the May 2021 killing of 37-year-old Derek Sutton and sentenced in 2023 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 11 years. Monro appealed, arguing Court of King's Bench Justice Vic Toews erred when he rejected his claim he was provoked and acted in self-defence. John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Manitoba's highest court has dismissed a man's claim he acted in self defence when he beat his roommate to death with a piece of lumber. In a written decision last month, the Court of Appeal of Manitoba dismissed Monro's appeal, ruling there were no grounds to reject Toews' conclusion Munro continued to attack Sutton when he no longer posed a threat and knew the attack would likely end in Sutton's death. 'I am not convinced that the reasons of the trial judge demonstrate that he failed to consider the cumulative effect of all the evidence,' Justice Diana Cameron wrote on behalf of the appeal court. 'Based on those findings, the trial judge could reasonably conclude that the accused had the requisite intent for murder.' Court heard evidence at trial that Monro and his girlfriend were at Sutton's Beverley Street home, where Monro had been living for a time, when the two men got into an argument that quickly became physical. It ended with Monro striking Sutton in the face with a piece of dimensional lumber at least seven times. Security video captured Monro walking down a back lane with his girlfriend and discarding the two-by-four behind a shed, where police later recovered it. In a subsequent interview with police, Monro claimed Sutton had returned home to find his belongings trashed by an unidentified intruder and blamed Monro for not stopping him. Sutton attacked him and, when the fight spilled outdoors, Sutton armed himself with a two-by-four and started swinging it, Monro said. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. Monro said he disarmed Sutton, and hit him several times in the head with the piece of wood. Monro told police he had used drugs earlier in the day but was not high at the time of the attack. Toews ruled that blood-trail evidence showed Monro had attacked Sutton with the two-by-four inside the house and that the attack continued as Monro, who was uninjured, chased Sutton out the front door. Toews rejected Monro's claim he was provoked, pointing to his comments to police stating he was 'totally… in control' during the attack. A pathologist report revealed Sutton suffered injuries akin to those suffered in a high-speed motor vehicle accident. Monro's life spiralled out of control during the pandemic after he lost his job and fell into drug use, defence lawyer Andrew McKelvey-Gunsen said at a sentencing hearing. Dean PritchardCourts reporter Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean. Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
5 days ago
- Global News
Accused in Saskatoon high school fire attack requests judge-alone trial
The 14-year-old girl accused in the Evan Hardy Collegiate fire attack appeared at the Court of King's Bench Wednesday for the first time. It was also her first in-person appearance since her initial arrest last September. The defence was seeking a re-election for a judge-alone trial. A preliminary hearing was set for this week. However, a direct indictment was instead approved. The Crown told Global News the election was automatically set as a trial with a judge and jury. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In court on Wednesday, the Crown consented to the re-election. The judge then approved a judge-alone trial. The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is facing charges of attempted murder and unlawfully causing bodily harm after allegedly lighting a 15-year-old girl on fire. Story continues below advertisement The Crown intends to seek an adult sentence. The accused has not entered any pleas yet, and no trial dates have been set. Earlier in the case, the defence revealed the teen is undergoing a private psychiatrist's assessment. A trial date will not be made until the assessment is complete and the defence expects that to be done in early August. The 14-year-old is also facing charges related to another incident while in custody. She is scheduled to return to provincial court next Thursday for those charges, and the pre-trial for the initial charges is set to resume on Aug. 27, 2025.
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Lorne Gunter: Blame Liberals' lax bail system for daylight fatal stabbing at Edmonton LRT station
Seven years in prison. That's all. With time served while awaiting trial and sentencing, Jamal Wheeler will likely be out in just four-and-a-half. Article content Two summers ago, at an Edmonton transit station, Wheeler, a lifelong drug addict and violent criminal, used a knife to attack a complete stranger, unprovoked, in broad daylight. A single blow to the chest of Rukinisha Nkundabatware — known as Nkunda to his family and members of Edmonton's Congolese community — left the new Canadian and father of seven dead in the middle of the street, where he had run and collapsed after being stabbed. Article content Article content Article content His assailant, Jamal Joshua Malik Wheeler, 29, had a long history of violent behaviour, including at least two earlier convictions for random attacks on transit riders. And still, Court of King's Bench Justice Kent Teskey sentenced him to just seven years in prison for taking another person's life. Article content Article content The problem is not the judge. It's not even the particularly light sentence. It's the bail system and the reforms the Liberal government made to it in 2019 that let Wheeler be free the day he decided he needed to brutalize Nkunda. Article content At the time he murdered Nkunda, Wheeler was out on bail for an earlier assault. And he was in breach of one of his bail conditions, too, namely to stay off Edmonton Transit property. Article content Article content Not only was Wheeler trespassing on city property, he was living there, in a tent. Article content Had he not been given bail, Wheeler would have been in jail where he couldn't have killed Nkunda. And even if he had been released, if his bail conditions were being enforced, it's less likely Wheeler would have been near the transit stop where he attacked Nkunda. Article content Wheeler has had an astonishingly hard life, no doubt about it. He has mental impairments that would be difficult to treat. Article content His father was an absent drug dealer. His mother was an addict who got him started on illicit drugs herself. He has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and ADHD. As a result, a court report states Wheeler has 'significantly impaired cognitive development,' is undereducated and will always have difficultly holding a job or even functioning in the wider society.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Care home goes to court to prevent release of files after senior's death
A personal care home is trying to prevent Winnipeg police from accessing critical incident records after a 90-year old woman died at the facility following a fall, arguing provincial law prohibits the release of the records. Concordia Hospital filed a notice of application in the Court of King's Bench last week, seeking to quash a production order obtained by the Winnipeg Police Service in February to investigate the death. The court filing says the critical incident occurred at Concordia Place — a care home run by the hospital under an agreement with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority — on Oct. 9, 2024, when the senior, who was suffering from dementia, fell from her bed. Daniel Crump / Free Press Files Concordia Place care home where a 90-year old woman died following a fall from her bed last October. An aide lifted her back onto the bed, the court filing says, and the next morning, staff observed swelling. An X-ray confirmed she had a fractured leg, but because of her age and medical conditions, she wasn't taken for surgery to repair the break. It's not clear whether the fall or being lifted back to the bed caused the fracture, the court papers say. The court filing claims there's no evidence linking the woman's death a week later to the fall. She had been suffering an overall decline in her health in the year preceding her death, the court papers say. The fall was probed as a critical incident by a review committee. Winnipeg police Det. Sgt. Parnelli Parnes then sought a production order to compel Concordia Place to disclose reports, communications, contact information and investigative files related to the incident, including photos and X-rays, which a provincial court judge granted in February. But on March 26, the care home told police it could not release some of the information sought because it was barred from doing so by the Manitoba Evidence Act and the Health System Governance and Accountability Act, the court filing says. It released other records to police. The acts prevent the disclosure of records or information prepared for the use of a critical incident committee, according to the court filing. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. 'Because of these statutory prohibitions against disclosure, Concordia Place staff are assured confidentiality in the critical incident process. They are told that this process is strictly confidential and based on provincial laws, critical incident documents are not compellable in court,' reads the court filing. 'This is designed to create a culture of safety and to encourage reporting and participation in the investigation and review of critical incidents.' The application argues the provincial court judge failed to impose adequate conditions to minimize the risk of disclosing privileged information and failed to consider whether that information could be obtained from other sources. The application is scheduled to be heard in court in August. Erik PinderaReporter Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik. Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
