Latest news with #bailconditions
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Comedian Susan Riddell cancels Fringe show after terror charge
Comedian Susan Riddell has cancelled her Edinburgh Fringe show because she cannot travel into the city under bail conditions imposed after a van was allegedly driven into a defence factory Riddell was one of three women arrested in connection with the incident at Leonardo UK's facility on Crewe Road North last week. At a private hearing via videolink at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, she made no plea to a charge of malicious mischief, aggravated by having a "terrorist connection".Her new show How Do You Sleep at Night? had been due to run for a month at the festival, which begins next week. Ms Riddell is a regular panellist on BBC Scotland's Breaking the News and The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected, and recently presented BBC Edinburgh Unlocked. She has also written and starred in her own BBC mini-sitcom pilot an Instagram post, Ms Riddell said: "Thanks to everyone who has shared my Edinburgh fringe show but unfortunately due to bail conditions I'm barred from Edinburgh for the foreseeable so I won't be doing my show."The Glasgow-based comedian's hour-long show had a 19:15 slot at Monkey Barrel at The Tron from 28 July until 24 her bail conditions have restricted her travel into the capital. She was charged alongside Allegra Fitzherbert, 34, of London, and Naomi Stubbs-Gorman, 31, of Glasgow - all of whom made no pleas at the court hearing. Ms Riddell was also charged with an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 which was "aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection".The Shut Down Leonardo campaign had said it was protesting against the company's laser targeting system, which it claims is used by the Israeli said it does not supply equipment directly to Israel and that its main customer is the UK's armed forces.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Sydney man's horror alleged act after he met a woman on a dating app
A man who allegedly choked a woman he met on a dating app and kidnapped another has been slapped with over a dozen domestic violence charges. The 44-year-old man was charged with 15 domestic violence-related offences spanning a three-year period after officers descended on a home on Sibbick Street in Russell Lea, in Sydney 's inner west, about 7am on Wednesday. In video of his dramatic arrest, the man is seen wearing grey tracksuit pants and ugg boots as he is bustled out of the home and into a paddy wagon. The man's alleged offences include eight counts of sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of choking without consent. Police allege the man carried out a slew of DV offences including kidnapping between 2021 and 2023 against a 35-year-old woman. He also allegedly choked a 52-year-old woman he met on a dating app last March. The man's charges also include two counts of stalking and intimidation, intentionally recording an intimate image without consent, and detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage. He was granted bail in Parramatta Local Court on Thursday but will need to adhere to a series of strict bail conditions, including wearing an ankle monitor. The man was asked to forfeit his passport and is banned from leaving New South Wales or entering any international port of departure from Australia. He will also be bound by a strict curfew of 8pm to 5am. His bail conditions require he report to a police station three times a week and refrain from contacting prosecution witnesses except via his representation. He returns to Parramatta Local Court on September 10. Police inquiries under Strike Force Brandum are continuing.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- CTV News
Sudbury police launch bail enforcement blitz
Northern Ontario Watch Sudbury police say they have seen an increase in the number of people complying with bail conditions after the latest check, with 90 per cent in compliance.
ABC News
26-06-2025
- ABC News
Financial consultant ordered to live with parents before trial over sexual assaults, bad cheques
A Sydney financial consultant will live with his parents under strict bail conditions for a year as he awaits trial for dozens of sexual assault charges, accused of paying sex workers with dishonoured cheques and failed bank transfers. Mark Steven Sarian on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 49 charges, including 38 counts of sexual intercourse without consent, which relate to 12 women who allege they were fraudulently induced into sexual activity. The Crown alleges that over a five-month period in 2024, he agreed to pay the women for specified sexual acts either by cheque or deposit before blaming bank delays, promising to try another transfer when one failed, or complaining about their services. The 36-year-old's legal team will argue that he had a genuine intention to pay the complainants when he faces a trial next June, which is estimated to run for up to five weeks. Amendments to NSW law in 2022 aimed to better cover circumstances involving consent where participation in sexual activity is tied to so-called "fraudulent inducements". During a bail application on Thursday, the NSW District Court heard Mr Sarian told police, on body-worn camera: "They're just hustling me for cash." The Crown argued Mr Sarian had "no intention to pay" and handed over cheques to the first six complainants from a bank account that had been closed for over a decade. "The Crown submission is he has a compulsive determination to continue that offending," Crown prosecutor Ross Stainer said. The court heard that when two of the women confronted him, Mr Sarian complained about being "taken for a ride". "I wasn't given the service … It wasn't very entertaining. I'm trying to f****** teach her how to run her business," he allegedly said. "You just took me for a f****** ride and so I decided not to pay you." Mr Stainer argued that this approach continued when other complainants pursued him and Mr Sarian "lecture(d) them about how to run a business". Some complainants were paid from different accounts where a transaction appeared to be pending but it contained insufficient funds, the court heard. Another woman was asked by Mr Sarian for an invoice and was also "lectured", while one even opened a different bank account at his instruction. "It's just prevarication, because he had no intention to pay," Mr Stainer argued. The court heard Mr Sarian suggested to the women he was "a powerful person" and he told one of them chasing invoices was part of being an entrepreneur. "Get used to it," he allegedly said. Mr Sarian's defence counsel, Michael Gleeson, urged the judge to take a "creative" approach to stringent bail conditions and bestow a level of compassion on his client, given his mother has cancer and has been told she may live for less than 12 months. Mr Gleeson highlighted his client's community ties, including his father who attended court this week and was willing to welcome Mr Sarian back into the home. Judge Sharon Harris accepted the Crown case appeared strong, but said a "combination of factors" led her to conclude bail should be granted. Mr Sarian was handed strict conditions including to not leave the home unless for reasons such as work, medical or legal appointments and to report to police daily. He is banned from using encrypted messaging platforms, contacting any prosecution witness, consuming any restricted non-prescription substances and must surrender his passport. He is also prohibited from leaving NSW without court approval.
CBC
14-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Awaiting sex crimes trials, billionaire Frank Stronach in Austria for a TV appearance
Social Sharing On June 5, Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach was doing what has preoccupied him for years: hawking his economic ideas in front of the camera. But this was not one of his regular speeches at his Aurora, Ont., restaurant or at some Canadian business gala. The 92-year-old, who is to stand trial in Toronto and Newmarket, Ont., next year for more than a dozen alleged sex crimes, gave his economic stump speech an ocean away, in Austria, on a current affairs news program. Stronach, who had to surrender his passport to the courts when he was arrested in June 2024, has been in the country of his birth for three weeks, CBC News has learned. Court documents obtained by CBC News show that Stronach's bail conditions were quietly altered on May 21, granting him the return of his passport and ability to travel from May 24 to June 14. The section of the document set aside to provide reasons why a bail condition should be changed contains only a single sentence with no further explanation: "To allow Mr. Stronach to travel to Austria." The change to Stronach's bail conditions, which were requested by his Toronto lawyer, Leora Shemesh, was approved by assistant Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic. The alteration did not require a hearing before a judge, because the Crown did not object. Vlacic confirmed in an interview that she consented to the change. "I'm not in a position to sort of make any comments," she said when asked why she agreed. Not unusual to grant passport request: lawyer Although Stronach was required to surrender his passport last year, his bail conditions do not mention any other restrictions on travel, a common feature, said Ottawa criminal lawyer Michael Spratt. "Bail is not intended to be punitive," he told CBC News in a Friday interview. "An accused person is presumed innocent." Spratt said the primary reason a court orders the surrender of a passport is to prevent an accused person from fleeing the country. While someone of Stronach's wealth has the means to leave, Spratt said that is not the only consideration at hand. "If someone, say, suddenly moved a lot of assets into that country, or bought a home there, or bought a one-way ticket to a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, the Crown might take a much harder look at that," said Spratt, who is not part of the Stronach case. If those sorts of conditions don't exist, the Crown is likely to grant the return of a passport, he said. Spratt said in a case like Stronach's, where a high-profile person is facing multiple criminal charges, the release of a passport will raise some eyebrows. But it is not unusual for such a request to be granted. Shemesh, in an emailed statement to CBC News, said the paperwork was a "formality." "He is presumed innocent. He has no criminal record. He maintains his innocence and enjoys the same freedoms we all do." 'A disappointing double standard for wealthy' Stronach is a well-known political and business figure in Austria. Aside from the fame and wealth he garnered from leading the Ontario-based auto-parts giant Magna for decades, he once ran his own political party in Austria. Called Team Stronach, the party had limited electoral success in 2013 but was a thing of the past by 2014. He surrendered his passport at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., on June 7, 2024. Stronach, 91 at the time, was arrested and charged with sexual assault, rape and forcible confinement in cases involving 10 women dating back decades. By October 2024, his charge sheet ballooned to 18 criminal counts. Stronach has denied all of the charges against him, calling the allegations made by the women "lies." He now faces two trials. Twelve of the charges against him will be heard in a Toronto courtroom starting on Nov. 16, 2026. The remaining charges will be tried in York Region, with a jury trial scheduled to begin on June 1, 2026. CBC News reached out to several of the women who allege Stronach assaulted them. They declined to comment or could not be reached on Friday. "I'm baffled by Frank Stronach's presence in Austria. It was reported that he had surrendered his passport," said Jane Boon, a former Magna intern who says she had a sexual encounter with Stronach in 1986, when she was 19 and he was 54. Last year, Boon spoke to Fifth Estate reporter Mark Kelley about her uncomfortable sexual experience with Stronach, which is not part of any of the criminal cases the former auto-parts magnate is facing. "It was a horrible abuse of power," she told Kelley. "This extravagant trip suggests a disappointing double standard for wealthy defendants of serious crimes," she said Friday of Stronach's recent trip to Austria. However, Spratt said it is not uncommon for passports to be returned to people facing a criminal trial. Sometimes it is for a medical or family emergency, he said, and other times for something as simple as a vacation. Requests to change bail are also common in high-profile cases, including sex crime trials. In January 2014, then-CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi faced seven sexual assault charges, for which he was later acquitted. He, too, had to surrender his passport, and his bail conditions required him to live with his mother. The Crown later agreed to modify his bail, which included the return of his passport. But former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, currently serving 11 years in prison after being found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, was denied changes to his bail in 2024 because a judge said he presented a flight risk.
