A truck driver from Brampton, Ont., who was convicted of smuggling $7.5-million worth of drugs into Canada, allegedly fled the country after a court denied a request from the Crown to revoke his bail.
The Crown made the request on Feb. 3, the same day Ontario Superior Court Justice George King delivered a guilty verdict in the case of the driver, Charanpreet Singh, according to court documents. Crown attorney Stephane Marinier, who handled the case, had argued that the seriousness of the charges warranted the bail order being removed.
In late June, days before Mr. Singh was due to be sentenced, he allegedly cut off his GPS ankle monitor and is believed to have left Canada, according to police and Mr. Marinier.
Canada’s bail laws have been a topic of controversy for several years amid concern about rising levels of violent crime. The court’s decision to allow Mr. Singh to remain out of custody after his conviction is a scenario that new federal bail reform legislation is intended to help prevent, in part by placing the burden on the accused in certain cases to persuade judges that their bail should not be revoked. (Under pre-existing law, the Crown usually bears that burden.)
But the new legislation, Bill C-14, received royal assent only last month and does not go into effect until next week.
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Mr. Singh was found guilty in February of four charges related to possessing and importing drugs for trafficking, according to court documents. Justice King sentenced him to 15 years in prison in June, despite him not attending court.
He was arrested on April 8, 2022, at a Blue Water Bridge border crossing for driving a semi-truck carrying 55 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin across the Canada-U.S. border at Point Edward into Southern Ontario, according to the documents. The village is located roughly 90 kilometres north of Windsor.
Mr. Singh was initially granted $55,000 bail in April in a Sarnia courtroom after $5,000 was deposited and his sister pledged $50,000. The bail amount rose by $10,000 to $65,000 after another individual signed onto the bail.
As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered to live in Brampton with his sister and wear a GPS monitor. He also needed to remain in Ontario and not get a new or replacement passport or renew any existing ones.
Mr. Marinier said that while it’s rare for people to violate their bail after a conviction, the risk is higher when someone doesn’t have “deep roots” in Canada and their family is abroad.
“If ever there was a moment in time where the risk of flight was real, it’s that moment in time when he now faces sentencing,” he said, referring to Mr. Singh’s case.
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No evidence was given of any bail breaches before Mr. Singh’s disappearance and none was provided that showed Mr. Singh was a flight risk, according to court documents.
Justice King dismissed the Crown application, saying the prosecutors didn’t show evidence that revoking Mr. Singh’s bail was needed to maintain public trust in the justice system.
“If it was the intention of Parliament that the revocation of bail should occur automatically or by rote, on conviction of these or other serious offences, that could have been specifically delineated in the [Criminal] Code. It is not,” Justice King said in the application decision.
After last month’s sentencing hearing, Mr. Marinier said, the court initiated the estreatment process, which calls the people who pledged money on behalf of Mr. Singh’s bail to court to either concede the full amount or argue that the money shouldn’t be taken.
Mr. Singh’s lawyer, Harval Bassi, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Matt Carty, a spokesperson for Peel Regional Police, said there is an active warrant for Mr. Singh’s arrest stemming from him not appearing in court and removing his ankle monitor.
He deferred further questions to the RCMP, who are now handling the case. The RCMP didn’t respond to The Globe and Mail’s questions Thursday evening.
A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Sean Fraser declined to comment on the Sarnia case but said the Liberals have recently passed laws limiting access to bail, including Bill C-14.
“These changes make bail harder to get, including in cases of repeat and violent offending,” press secretary Jeanne Joannie Fogue Mgamgne said.
Legal observers say that the intent of the new law is to put Crown attorneys in a stronger position in such cases.
“It’s always been the case that after a conviction, the Crown can ask a judge to revoke bail pending a sentence” said Ottawa criminal lawyer Michael Spratt. “Historically, before C-14 it would be the Crown onus to show why that was required.”
“Following C-14, the main change is – if the Crown seeks to revoke bail – it’s the accused person who is going to need to justify why their bail should continue,” Mr. Spratt said.
Mr. Spratt said bail revocations at the time of conviction are rare and may remain so.