An Uber driver on his second day on the job admitted his careless driving killed passenger Nicholas Cameron after the driver stopped on the Gardiner to pick up his cell phone, which fell on the floor.

Abdihared Bishar Mussa pleaded guilty to careless driving — not any of the four criminal charges he faced — after the March 21, 2018 collision after picking up Cameron, 28, and girlfriend Monika Traikov.

The couple were on their way to Pearson Airport for a Mexican vacation.

Mussa, 23, had steered his 2012 Hyundai Sonata partly onto the shoulder of the Gardiner Expressway near Royal York Rd., but still in the right lane to retrieve his fallen cellphone, Crown attorney Michael Coristine told Justice Paul Robertson.

Mussa was barely moving when his Sonata was rear-ended by a BMW travelling at 107 km/h without braking, said Coristine.

“The impact of the collision sent the accused’s vehicle hurtling westbound across all four lanes of the Gardiner Expressway, where it
came to rest against the centre median, several hundred feet down the highway,” said Coristine.

“Cameron, who was seated directly behind the driver’s seat, suffered a catastrophic neck injury.”

Cameron, the son of the late CBC-CityTV broadcaster Bill Cameron and journalist Cheryl Hawkes, never regained consciousness and died in hospital the next day.

Traikov suffered a concussion and other more minor injuries.

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“This careless driving resulted from poor judgment with extremely tragic, unimaginable consequences,” said Coristine, who implored the court to fine the 23-year-old Somalian refugee the maximum, $2,000 for the Highway Traffic Act offence and strip his licence for another year.

Mussa’s lawyer David Parry wants the minimum fine, $400, imposed and asked that  his client should resume driving once he completes driving training.

Several eloquent victim impact statements described the devastating impact this senseless tragedy has had on Cameron’s family.

Nick’s mother Cheryl Hawkes recalled a story when her youngest child, Nick was nine years old and asked if she would “mind if he died.”

“I said, absolutely, it would ruin my life,” said Hawkes.

She hoped his death will spark the city to renew its role in imposing safety regulations for the vehicle-for-hire industry after Toronto dropped its 17-day mandatory driver training and essentially let private transportation companies, including Uber, regulate themselves.

“We‟ve been warned. In the end, responsibility for Nick’s death has been left on the side of the road,” said Hawkes.

“No one wants to touch it.”

“You never should have been driving a car, let alone an Uber, and you knew it,” the victim’s sister Rachel told Mussa.

““Why didn’t you stop? Why didn’t you get off the highway? You knew you were endangering yourself and the people in the back of your car that trusted you,” said the sibling.

Robertson will pass sentence on Dec. 4.

spazzano@postmedia.com

The family of Honey and Barry Sherman is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of the murderers of the billionaire couple, whose bodies were found in their Toronto mansion last December.

The family’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, announced the reward and a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week monitored hotline at 1-833-668-0001, or internationally at 011-905-849-7373, during a news conference held at Sherman’s generic drug manufacturer headquarters in North York on Friday.

“We’re trying to light the fire. That’s part of the reason we’ve gathered today,” said Greenspan.

Brian Greenspan, counsel for the family of Barry and Honey Sherman, updates media on the investigation into their murders during a press conference at the Apotex office in Toronto, Ont. on Friday October 26, 2018. Greenspan is joined by several members of his investigative team. (Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia)

“To provide the new incentive for members of the public to come forward with information which they might have, but also to light the fire under the Toronto Police Service and to try to ensure that those investigative steps that have either not yet been completed, or not yet been taken, are completed, and to encourage a two-way street.”

Barry Sherman, 75, was the brilliant, driven founder of Apotex and his wife Honey, 70, was a well-known philanthropist and social butterfly. The couple donated tens of millions of dollars to charities.

Their bodies were found in the basement pool area of their home on Dec. 15, 2017. No arrests have been made and police have not provided an update on the investigation since January.

In this Oct. 15, 2017 photo provided by the United Jewish Appeal via Canadian Press, Barry and Honey Sherman pose for a photo in Toronto, Canada.

Police initially said there was no sign of forced entry and they weren’t looking for suspects.

“That misguided, unfounded conclusion left the wrong impression that this was a self-inflicted crime, either a suicide or murder-suicide,” said Greenspan.

“That comment…conveyed a false sense of security to the public and devastation to the Sherman family,” he added.

Greenspan was retained to organize a parallel investigation by a team of private investigators, consisting mostly of former highly-experienced and well-regarded Toronto Police homicide detectives.

The private investigation is not meant to undermine the work of police, but rather to advance “the common goal of finding and prosecuting the perpetrators,” said Greenspan.

The lawyer offered to create a private-public partnership with TPS and his private investigators to help solve “this unspeakable crime,” but the overture has been largely ignored by police, he said.

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Greenspan cited several examples where police investigators are “required by law to maintain a certain professional standard” but “fell well below that standard.”

Specifically, Greenspan said police failed to take into account the fact that the couple’s bodies were “staged” where they were found by their indoor pool in the basement.

“(They) were sitting next to each other with ligatures pulled around their necks and wrapped around a railing forcing them into an upright position,” said Greenspan.

“Barry Sherman’s legs were outstretched…(and he was) wearing his undisturbed eyeglasses and his jacket pulled slightly behind his back, which would have prevented use of his arms,” he explained.

“The observations at the scene…could not and should not have led them to the premature and wrong-minded conclusion announced that first night.”

Private Investigators Martin Woodhouse (left), of Klatt Investigations Inc., and Alan Benton, with BentonForensics.com, on their way to the garage at the home of the late Barry and Honey Sherman on Old Colony Rd. in North York. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018.

Greenspan also claimed officers failed to vacuum the crime scene for evidence, such as hairs or fibres left behind by a perpetrator.

He also said police failed to properly gather 25 palm print and fingerprint evidence that might identify potential suspects and eliminate innocent people such as household staffers.

The seasoned lawyer also accused Toronto police of failing to thoroughly check the entry points into the home, which would have eliminated the erroneous no forced entry conclusion.

“If this best practice had been followed, they would have located the point of entry into the home, which would have seriously undermined their misleading and irresponsible conclusion that there had been no forced entry,” he said.

Police Chief Mark Saunders later defended his investigators, saying the probe was being conducted “to a very high level of professionalism and a high level of expertise.”

While he did not respond to many of Greenspan’s specific allegations, Saunders said abundant work was done from the outset to protect the integrity of the investigation and extensive resources were used in this high profile case.

More than 50 officers have contributed to the case, more than 200 witnesses have been interviewed and officers have collected more than 2,000 hours of surveillance video from neighbours, said Saunders.

“The investigation was not taken lightly and still is not taken lightly,” he said.

Saunders admitted that rewards don’t always result in breakthroughs, but still welcomed the move, saying it will draw the investigation “back into the light.”

Asked whether police would join in a separate expert panel Greenspan assembled to assess the information that flows through the tip line, Saunders said he would want to know more about its terms of reference and whether that would stand up to the scrutiny of a court proceeding.

“If it meets that test, then definitely we will be involved,” he said.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Revenge was the only thing on Christopher Husbands’ mind when he gunned down Nixon Nirmalendran and Ahmed Hassan in the Eaton Centre, a Crown attorney said Monday.

“The motive for these murders was retaliation for being stabbed,” Crown attorney Mary Humphrey said in her opening address to the jury.

“Christopher Husbands wanted to get even with the men who stabbed him. He wanted to execute his own street justice,” said Humphrey, explaining the Crown’s theory

Husbands, 29, has admitted he fatally shot Nirmalendran, 22, and Hassan, 25, and wounded five other people in the Urban Eatery on June 2, 2012 but is pleading not guilty to all charges.

His defence lawyers, Stephanie DiGiuseppe and Dirk Derstine, said Husbands should be found not criminally responsible because of the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after Feb. 28, 2012, when a gang ambushed him and inflicted 20 knife wounds in a Regent Park apartment.

Husbands blamed Nirmalendran for orchestrating the vicious assault and Husbands became paranoid. He feared for his life and carried a loaded handgun into the Eaton Centre food court that day when he came across brothers Nixon and Nisan Nirmalendran, court heard.

The lethal actions were conducted while Husbands was “feeling disconnected from his own body,” said DiGiuseppe in her opening to the jury.

“He believed that they (the Nirmalendran brothers Nixon and Nisan) saw him and he believed Nixon said words to Nisan directing him to shoot Christopher Husbands,” said DiGiuseppe.

“He saw Nisan’s hand move toward his pocket. These things which Husbands perceived caused him to experience an overwhelming surge of emotional and neurological responses,” she said.

“He has no memory of the events that followed inside the food court,” said DiGiuseppe.

“In the law, we call complete separation between the mind and body, automatism. Psychiatrists and psychologists call this detachment between mind and body, dissociation.”

“People who commit these crimes in a state of automatism do not have voluntary control over their actions and they do not intend their actions,” explained DiGiuseppe.

“Our law considers these individuals to be not criminally responsible for their actions,” she concluded,

The prosecution’s experts will testify that dissociation is an extremely rare phenomenon while the defence experts will assert these symptoms “are more common than you might think,” said DiGiuseppe.

The trial resumes Tuesday.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Accused killer Rohinie Bisesar was declared fit to stand trial and will face a first-degree murder charge in a judge-alone trial on Friday.

After hearing psychiatrist Dr. Ian Swayze testify that Bisesar is in remission for symptoms of her schizophrenia, a jury concluded that the 43-year-old woman could stand trial in the stabbing death of Rosemarie “Kimberly” Junor.

Rosemarie Junor

Bisesar was declared mentally unfit to stand trial last year but was undergoing treatment and is now free of those symptoms.

“We will be seeking an Not Criminally Responsible (verdict) at trial on the basis she was suffering from a mental condition that robbed her of the ability to know the consequences of her actions were wrong,” said her lawyer Robert Karrass outside court.

“A year ago, she was very very unwell. She was experiencing schizophrenia. She believed an entity was controlling her actions,” said Karrass.

“She’s in full remission. The NCR test is how was she at the time of the offence. If she’s found NCR, she’ll be going to a mental hospital.”

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While she was delusional, Bisesar stated an implanted device controlled her movements and that Junor wasn’t dead and the murder charge should therefore be withdrawn, court heard.

Bisesar was charged with first-degree murder after newlywed Junor, 28, was fatally stabbed in the Shoppers Drug Mart in the downtown PATH walkway on Dec. 11, 2015.

Rohinie Bisesar grins to her lawyer Calvin Barry in College Park court on Dec. 18, 2015 (Pam Davies sketch)

The unemployed former financial analyst with an MBA from York University has been in custody since her arrest shortly after the slaying.

“You can be angry but it doesn’t bring my sister back,” said the victim’s older brother, Richard Junor outside court.

“We think about her every day. We miss her every day and every night. She’s gone.”

Junor had graduated from university and built her career at Medcan, using an ultrasound machine to screen people for signs of heart disease.

She had wed just months before her death.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Scarborough Rapist and schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo “objectified women” and still lacks insight into the triggers for his horrific crimes, his parole decision stated Tuesday.

The two-member Parole Board of Canada decision that rejected his bid for day or full parole indicated Bernardo has had “a distorted view of women for most of his life and changes in this regard remain to be seen.

“The Board finds you showed minimal insight into your offending, which ….. suggests you have been keen over the years to come up with your own unsubstantiated reasons for your criminal behaviour,” the decision stated.

Kristen French, left, and Leslie Mahaffy were murdered by Paul Bernardo.

“You recognized the horror of your crimes but focused mainly on the fact that your behaviour was a result of an anxiety disorder about feeling inadequate since childhood and a lack of self-esteem,” the decision stated.

“You used that self-diagnosis as a mantra to dissociate yourself from your actions.

“You showed a tendency at the hearing to avoid speaking about sexual self-gratification and the sadistic and violent nature of your behaviour.

“You told the Board that you had no intention of hurting the women you sexually assaulted. The Board reminded you that you used a knife and rope against several of the victims,” the decision stated.

“Claiming today that you did not intend to hurt them adds to the Board’s belief that you lack insight.”

Bernardo, now 54, claimed low self-esteem compelled him to commit the sexually twisted crimes he now regrets and that he no longer poses any threat to the public.

“I’m a very flawed person. I know I’m not perfect,” Bernardo told the Parole Board of Canada panel.

“What I did was so dreadful. I hurt a lot of people. I cry all the time.”

The panel did not buy his arguments or his self-serving tears, denying both his day and full parole in a decision reached in under 30 minutes.

“Bernardo will present an undue risk to society if released, and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society,” the written decision stated.

The sexual sadist could make another bid for release in two years. He has already spent 25 years of his life sentence in prison — mostly in solitary.

Bernardo was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault among other offences. His crimes spanning several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, some of which he videotaped, terrorized and repulsed the Toronto and Niagara regions.

Among his brutal acts, Bernardo and his then-wife Karla Homolka kidnapped, tortured and killed Leslie Mahaffy, 14, of Burlington, Ont., in June 1991 at their home in Port Dalhousie, Ont., before dismembering her body, encasing her remains in cement and dumping them in a nearby lake.

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OBSESSION SPARKED RISK OF RE-OFFENDING

Psychopath and severe sexual sadist Paul Bernardo had phone calls and letters “with highly sexualized” content with a London woman who spoke of marrying  him in 2014.

Parole documents revealed that Bernardo’s communications with the woman bore similarities to his  crimes.

“You quickly demonstrated that you were still obsessed with the sexual component of the relationship … such an increase (in masturbation) escalates your risk to reoffend,” the parole decision stated.

“Also worrisome is the fact that you could see yourself having anal sex with the woman in doggy-style positions. You even commented on her adversity to pain,” the decision stated.

Bernardo couldn’t grasp how this “was bringing him back into his offence cycle where he like to dominate with what he called greater sex acts.

Serial killer Paul Bernardo, right. POSTMEDIA

“As you said at the hearing, you went back to your old patterns,” the decision stated.

Bernardo victimized 20 women between 14 and 23 years of age and, as the Scarborough Rapist,  violated these women from behind in brutal knifepoint attacks.

The London woman inquired about marrying the dangerous offender and serial rapist but eventually cut off communication which greatly distressed him, the decision stated.

In his 2009 autobiography, Bernardo described his former girlfriends and two murder victims’ physical attributes, including their bra sizes, and the parole board asked why he did so.

“You claimed that mentioning their bra sizes showed that they looked like adult women, as you didn’t want to be seen as a pedophile,” the decision stated.

spazzano@postmedia.com

It was a satirical shot at Canada’s political “Prince of Darkness” and his bride.

James Sears argued his alleged death threats against slick political operatives Warren and Lisa Kinsella were simply satire, neither threats nor a call to arm.

The 55-year-old editor-in-chief of Your Ward News, a reviled, far-right newsletter, was making his closing arguments to Justice Dan Moore on death threat allegations against his political foes, who have vowed to shut down his publication.

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“Those references are satirical as Warren Kinsella billed himself through his publicist as the Prince of Darkness, so she (his wife) is the Satanic witch, based on how he presents himself to the public,” Sears told the judge-alone trial.

Sears wrote last year was that he’d not disclosed the CAS complaint against him — which was unfounded because “there was the chance that some hothead … would lose it and do something illegal, like bludgeon the Kinsellas to death … I chose to turn the other cheek and let enough time pass for  people to react with cool heads.”

Alleged victim Lisa Kinsella testified that this was a call to action, a threat to “me, my husband, our six children and my grandchild.”

The trial resumes on Nov. 6.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A mistrial has been declared in the fatal beating of Zach Noureddine after a Superior Court judge ruled inadmissible videos of the accused killers were played to the jury without first vetting them with the judge.

The jury deciding the fate of William Cummins, Matthew Moreira and Patrick Smith in the music journalist-photographer’s slaying were already shown 60 videos of the night of Dec. 29, 2015 and early morning hours of the next day by the prosecution.

But Justice Maureen Forestell said six or seven videos shown to Cummins during his cross-examination by the prosecution shouldn’t have been played.

Zach Noureddine

“To disentangle the inadmissible from the admissible (videos) at this stage is not possible,” she said.

“It might be realistic to instruct a jury to ignore one or two videos. But it is not realistic to expect them to ignore six or seven.

“The seven new videos played without leave of the court during the cross-examination bolstered the Crown’s case on the issue of the level of the intoxication of the accused,” Forestell added.

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Cummins, 32, and Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Noureddine, who was originally from Ottawa, while Moreira, 34, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery of Noureddine’s pal, Mitchell Conery. All those guilty pleas were rejected by the Crown.

Cummins testified he and his co-accused pals were intoxicated by heavy drinking, smoking marijuana and Smith’s snorting of cocaine. They were therefore unable to foresee the consequences of their violent actions, the defence asserted.

Cummins testified that they had consumed copious amounts of alcohol over a 45- to 60-minute period at Smith’s apartment shortly before Noureddine’s homicide.

Crown attorney Beverly Richards cross-examined Cummins and showed him six or seven additional videos to impeach his credibility and expose some of his story as untruthful or inaccurate. The videos included the time the three men arrived at the apartment and when they left seven minutes later — which the Crown said is too short a time to have consumed that much booze. All of these videos were disclosed to the defence in March 2017.

Noureddine’s heartbroken father, Hassan Noureddine, said he was “emotionally devastated by the decision, especially at this late stage of the trial.

“We want justice for our son and now we have to start over again. I hope they can start a new trial as soon as possible,” he said over the phone from Ottawa.

(L-R) Russell, Hassan, Magida and Rowdan Noureddine, the brothers and parents of Zack, sit for a photograph with a box of Zack’s memorabilia, at a private family gathering on Jan. 3, 2016. Postmedia files

The Crown is alleging Cummins, Moreira and Smith killed Noureddine, 26, committing first-degree murder in a vicious beating while simultaneously robbing and unlawfully confining Conery on Dec. 29, 2015, in the Yonge-Eglinton area.

Noureddine sustained a fracture to the first cervical spinal vertebra, which tore an artery within his skull and caused massive bleeding into his brain and death.

The accused will be back in court on Nov. 6.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A deadly robbery was triggered by the oldest motive of all — greed, a Crown attorney told the jury at the alleged killer’s first-degree murder trial.

Crown attorney Elizabeth Bozak said in her opening statements that Yonge Street tattoo parlour owner Wasfi Ghalban was living alone in his 200 Wellesley St. E. apartment when Lance Burkhard, Chris Fuller and Kyle Schindermann met outside the victim’s home on Dec. 1, 2014.

Burkhard and Schindermann lay in wait for Ghalban to return home from work while Fuller acted as a lookout, said Kozak. When Ghalban arrived, Burkhard and Schindermann “ambushed him, forcing him inside his apartment.

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“Once inside, Burkhard and Schindermann overpowered Ghalban and he was beaten,” said Kozak.

In the course of the beating, Ghalban was stabbed once in the neck.

“His jugular vein was almost completely severed,” said Bozak.

As a result, Ghalban bled to death in his home.

The reason for the robbery and death was money, the jury heard.

“Burkhard and Schindermann had been tipped off by a man named Philip Frauts that Ghalban had a lot of money inside his apartment,” said Kozak.

“They wanted to steal his money. And they did.

“Why? Greed,” said Kozak.

She and co-counsel Scott Patterson are alleging Burkhard committed first-degree murder in the death of Ghalban, 47. Burkhard, 35, of Richmond Hill, has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution is calling Schindermann, Fuller and Frauts to testify as witnesses.

The Crown also has forensic evidence, including surveillance video of Burkhard and Schindermann entering and exiting the apartment building, analysis of blood stains throughout the victim’s apartment and analysis of bloody footwear impressions left behind by Burkhard and Schindermann.

The trial resumes Tuesday.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur could have a date with justice as early as next fall.

McArthur, a Toronto landscaper who is facing eight counts of first-degree murder linked to Toronto’s Gay Village, was told Monday by Superior Court Justice John McMahon that his trial will occur either in September, 2019, or January, 2020.

It was McArthur’s first appearance in Superior Court since he agreed to waive his right to a preliminary hearing two weeks ago, thus clearing the path to an expedited trial.

Justice McMahon said that he wanted to ensure the 67-year-old landscaper would get a trial in a swift manner.

McArthur will be back before Justice McMahon on Nov. 30, when a trial date will be clearer following a judicial pretrial meeting between his lawyers and the Crown.

Mr. McArthur is charged with the slayings of eight men between 2010 and 2017: Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, Abdulbasir Faizi, 44, Majeed Kayhan, 58, Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, Soroush Mahmudi, 50, Dean Lisowick, 47, Selim Esen, 44, and Andrew Kinsman, 49.

As he was led in handcuffs into court, McArthur glanced briefly at the room, where friends and relatives of Kinsman sat at the front. McArthur then kept his head down while in the prisoner’s box.

Those Kinsman supporters and family members said nothing to reporters outside as they exited the courthouse.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A schizophrenic woman who stabbed an innocent stranger to death in the city’s underground PATH network was found not criminally responsible for first-degree murder, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Rohinie Bisesar, 43, was suffering from “severe” untreated schizophrenia when she stabbed Rosemarie (Kim) Junor and was incapable of knowing the act was morally or legally wrong, said Justice John McMahon.

“This is an extremely tragic case,” said McMahon, calling Junor, 28, a “bright, young woman.”

On Dec. 11, 2015, she was shopping for lotion for her husband at an underground Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto’s downtown financial district when Bisesar, armed with a knife, entered the store.

“Suddenly and without warning and for no apparent reason, Bisesar stabbed the innocent victim once in the chest. No words were exchanged,” said McMahon.

“Calmly, the perpetrator put the knife on the counter.”

The mother of Rosemarie Junor, Rosalind Junor, speaks to media after Rohinie Bisesar was found not criminally responsible in fatal stabbing of Rosemarie Junor on Tuesday (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

Junor, a newlywed ultrasound technician, was rushed to the hospital but died four days later.

The Ontario Review Board will now determine Bisesar’s detention and release within the next 90 days but preferably by mid-December, ordered McMahon.

“This is not a case of a person complaining of mental disorder for the first time after a killing,” said McMahon.

Bisesar was locked up in March and April 2014 as an involuntary mental patient after threatening to burn down her parents’ home, court heard.

She was released — against doctor’s wishes — and went untreated.

Bisesar was in a state of severe psychosis — experiencing hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking when she stabbed Junor in the heart, court heard.

Bisesar was diagnosed with schizophrenia, suffering from delusions that external forces had placed an implant or device into her body and were controlling her movements.

Rosalind Junor on Tuesday. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

Heartbreaking victim impact statements paid loving tribute to the beautiful Junor, who was described a “kind, compassionate woman who was the most amazing soul to grace this earth.”

In her statement, Kim’s heartbroken mom, Rosalind Junor said she “hopes this tragic event that happened to our family never happens to another family.

“The authorities should keep Bisesar locked up in a mental hospital because she’s a danger,” Junor told reporters outside.

“This could happen to someone else. Some time she might not take her medication and do this again.”

Bisesar’s lawyer Robert Karrass argued that she should be found not criminally responsible because, while she inflicted the fatal wound, her mental state meant that she did not know what she was doing was legally and morally wrong.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Transgender sex worker Curtis “Moka” Dawkins was sentenced Tuesday to eight years imprisonment for killing his friend and customer, but only has 18 months left to serve.

Justice Robert Clark deducted 6.5 years for time already served from the sentence for manslaughter against the 28-year-old Dawkins.

She fatally stabbed her friend and client Jamie Foster on Aug. 3, 2015 at his Rose Ave. apartment.

“She remained at the scene and made no attempt to flee,” said Clark.

“She has strong family support in Montreal and strong community support here in Toronto. She’s young and there is some hope she could turn her life around.”

Curtis “Moka” Dawkins

Dawkins, 28, was acquitted of second-degree murder but was found guilty by a jury of the lesser but included offence of manslaughter.

Dawkins claimed he reacted in self-defence.

Foster stabbed her in the face “with no provocation, no rhyme or reason, after saying to her, ‘You’re not going nowhere,’” said defence lawyer Jennifer Penman in her closing argument. The verdict means the jury rejected self defence but concluded there was provocation.

“Dawkins was unarmed when she was attacked, but she exceeded the legitimate bounds of self defence,” said Clark.

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“I utterly reject she attempted to help him,” said Justice Clark. “She knew full well he was grievously injured and her failure to call 9-1-1 in a timely fashion is aggravating.”

Dawkins went to his friend’s home “with no malice” to purchase marijuana, said Clark.

Foster wanted her to have sex and they made out briefly but Foster then refused to let Dawkins join his friends at a bar. Foster slashed Dawkins in the face, but Dawkins seized the weapon and knifed Foster multiple times.

Foster, who lived as a heterosexual male and had a girlfriend for six years, was buying sexual services from Moka for a month before the Aug. 3 slaying, after hooking up through a website called ShemaleCanada.com.

They “had developed some kind of connection” and were more than merely escort and client, court heard.

Foster had four convictions for violence, including one in which Foster used a knife against a random stranger only nine months before his death.

His other three violent crimes involved Foster assaulting his girlfriend in 2009, court heard.

Dawkins, a transgender woman who hasn’t had the sex-changing surgery, “has regularly experienced violence in all forms,” said Penman.

“She was slapped, kicked, punched, bitten, robbed – these occurrences didn’t happen every day but about once a month.”

spazzano@postmedia.com

GRAVENHURST – Deadly drunk driver Marco Muzzo was denied parole Wednesday, but the woman who lost all three children and her father emphasized the decision gives her nothing to celebrate.

“I don’t get parole from this life sentence of misery and despair,” said Jennifer Neville-Lake, the mom of the three cherubic-faced children Muzzo killed.

Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, brother Harry, 5, and their sister, Milly, 2, as well as their grandfather and Jennifer’s dad, Gary Neville, 65, all died in the horrific collision on Sept. 27, 2015.

Jennifer Neville-Lake is comforted by her husband Edward Lake after Muzzo pleaded guilty and posted 1 million dollar bail until his Feb 23rd sentencing in Newmarket Court on Thursday February 4, 2016. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)Muzzo’s Jeep Grand Cherokee blew through a stop sign at high speed and T-boned the Neville-Lake’s vehicle. Meanwhile, Muzzo, 32, had almost triple legal limit of alcohol in his system after a bachelor party weekend in Miami.

“It doesn’t change a thing for me. I still will go home to an empty house and stare at urns and stare at photos because an impaired driver took innocent lives,” said the loving mother whose victim-impact statement exposed her agony for the last three years.

“There’s no win. There’s no victory.

Neville-Lake admitted after the hearing at the minimum-security Beaver Creek facility where Muzzo is housed, she was a “bit surprised” by the outcome.

But she said it won’t resurrect her family or restore the happy sounds of children playing in her home.

She hopes tougher laws and the unprecedented 10-year sentence Muzzo — a first-time offender — received will encourage more drunk drivers across the province to plead guilty and spare victims the additional trauma of a trial.

“There are now seeing ripple effects because of this first-timer’s sentence. I hope people realize the value of community statements because there were a lot of them and they played a big part in this decision,” said Neville-Lake.

“This doesn’t change a single thing for me, but maybe if something horrific like this happens again they’ll have our case as a precedent for sentencing,” said Neville-Lake.

She implored supporters on Facebook to write letters to the parole board stating how her family’s story had affected them.

Parole board member Kevin Corcoran noted receiving a “significant” number of letters and more than 13,000 had signed an online position.

Corcoran said the board denied Muzzo parole after he “from the outset sabotaged his progress by underestimating the alcohol abuse and misuse” in his life.

“We don’t question your remorse. Your regret is genuine,” Corcoran told Muzzo.

“You should be mindful that your actions caused the death of four people and that needs to be addressed before you can be in the community without being a threat to yourself and others.”

Neville-Lake said she couldn’t believe Muzzo “couldn’t own what he did. He was wavering on it (being drunk.)  If you can’t even say ‘I’m impaired,’ how can you own it?.

Harrison, Milly and Daniel Neville-Lake (left to right) are shown in a handout photo. The parents of three young children who died in a crash involving an alleged drunk driver north of Toronto said Monday they are in shock and called it their “worst nightmare.”https://twitter.com/MandelSun/status/1060195262537367559

She said she “understands that it must be difficult to accept what you’ve done, but you have to accept it, own it, to go on to the next stage.

“He was back-pedalling from accepting he was drunk at the scene, saying his intoxicated symptoms were a combination of shock and alcohol,” said Neville-Lake.

“We always felt his remorse wasn’t as clear cut. Everything that happened was a result of his decisions,” said Neville-Lake.

“He’s a Catholic as I am. But he broke a commandment: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’”

Muzzo wondered aloud at this hearing why this tragedy happen to him, but a board member corrected him immediately, she said.

“He said ‘this didn’t happen to you, Mr. Muzzo — this happened to the Neville-Lake family.’ I took this opportunity to hear from the man who killed all my kids.

“It was gut-wrenching, but I had to hear it.”

spazzano@postmedia.com

Twice in a little over three months in 2012, cold-blooded killer Shakeil Wheatle shot a completely innocent stranger — both of the victims died simply because they lived in Lawrence Heights, an area Wheatle despised.

Wheatle pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Marvin Engelbrecht simply because he was strolling on Flemington Rd. while walking his Doberman Tequila on Oct. 29, 2012.

“Engelbrecht was selected randomly simply because of where he lived,” said Justice John McMahon.

“The gun violence is at a point where people are being shot randomly because of where they live,” said McMahon. “It’s a terrifying thought for everyone where this takes place.”

Engelbrecht was killed in a hail of bullets. Wheatle repeatedly shot his .357 Magnum handgun at Engelbrecht, but the other, unidentified shooter fired the fatal bullet.

He is still at large.

“I will never be the same,” said Engelbrecht’s mom Semon.

Marvin Engelbrecht (Supplied photo)

“I had five children and I have lost one. It’s one less hug, one less kiss, one less place set at the table. One less I love you.”

“Marvin was the kindest soul I’ve ever known … he was like a human magnet and he was talented in different ways, musically, athletically and all round artistic,” said his brother Leon.

“He was only five-foot-six yet he could dunk a basketball.

“He taught himself how to play the drums, how to draw and even how to DJ.”

This is Wheatle’s second murder of an innocent stranger in the Lawrence Heights community in 2012.
The motive is he and other residents of the “South Side” are of Jane St.-Wilson Ave. harbour a long-standing grudge against the Lawrence Heights dwellers.

Wheatle, 24, is already serving a life sentence after a jury convicted him in February this year of first-degree murder for the July 19, 2012 random execution of Daniel Davis, another Lawrence Heights victim.

The 27-year-old man was shot eight times by Wheatle, his old friend, Jerome “Germz” Bent and another unidentified killer as he chatted with his friends behind an elementary school in Flemington Park,  which is within walking distance of Engelbrecht’s homicide.

• Lawrence Heights murder victim a mystery
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Both victims were unarmed, law-abiding men with no criminal records.

Bent also pleaded guilty to second degree murder for Davis’ murder and to first-degree murder for the slaying of Delano Coombs, 27, on May 10, 2012. Bent and Wheatle must wait 25 years to seek parole.

Wheatle’s parole ineligibility period of 14 years for Engelbrecht’s killing will run concurrently.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A Toronto cop who overdosed on cannabis-oil infused chocolate seized in a police raid thought he could die so he called for emergency help on his police radio, court heard.

Vittorio Dominelli pleaded guilty Friday to attempting to obstruct justice in front of Justice Mary Misener, who called the 13-year veteran “a complete idiot.”

“Call it stupidity or silliness, when you interfere with evidence the impact on the justice system is just so profound,” the judge said.

Dominelli admitted taking three cannabis-oil infused chocolate bars from the floor of a dispensary in 13 Division that officers raided on Jan. 27.

In an ironic twist, Dominelli, 36, had planned to dump the three bars but didn’t because he feared someone could get sick consuming it. Instead he decided to eat one bar with his partner Const. Jamie Young, court heard.

“I’m down if you are,” Dominelli claims Young said to him.

He and Young consumed a whole bar within 15 minutes, which violated the safe-consumption instructions marked on the treat’s label.

“After about 20 minutes, the chocolates hit me suddenly like a ton of bricks…I believed I was going to pass out,” Dominelli recalled in his statement. “I started to think that the chocolate may have been laced with something because it seemed impossible that a marijuana product would have such a powerful effect.”

“I started thinking about my children and my wife and the prospect that if the chocolate was laced that I could die,” said Dominelli, who stated neither he nor Young had ever tried marijuana before. “I realized instantly what a stupid thing we had done.”

Dominelli made the radio call for help and a female police officer rushing to the scene at Oakwood Ave. slipped and suffered a concussion. She still suffers difficulties with speech and vision and has yet to return to work, court heard.

Dominelli, who quit the Toronto Police Service on Wednesday, “was ashamed of his conduct…and wanted to resolve the matter quickly before any charges were laid,” said Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter.

“Dominelli almost immediately agreed to plead guilty and resign from the TPS,” said Perlmutter, who is seeking a 21-month conditional sentence, with 10 months of house arrest.

A conditional sentence would result in a conviction.

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Dominelli’s actions endangered both citizens and police officers, diverted scarce police resources to a situation created by his stupid choice and triggered the withdrawal of all charges against the dispensary accused, said Perlmutter.

“He knew admitting his mistake and poor judgment was the right thing to do and was prepared to resign,” said his lawyer Peter Brauti, who is seeking a conditional discharge and 200 hours of community service.

Former Toronto Cop Vito Dominelli exits College Park courts after pleading guilty to attempting to obstruct justice on Friday November 9, 2018. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network)

Dominelli has already performed 40 hours of community service.

A conditional discharge would leave him with no criminal record, said Brauti.

Dominelli rose in court and gave an impassioned apology.

He will be back in court on Nov. 15 to set a date for the passing of sentence.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Did the gift of a delicious cinnamon twist donut from a murder victim’s family to a trial judge tip the scales of justice?

This was one of several grounds that defence lawyers David Midanik, Marcus Bornfreund and Norm Stanford for accused murderer Tre Roberts-Stevens advanced as they asked trial judge Justice Michael Quigley to recuse himself from the sentencing hearing for allegedly demonstrating a “reasonable apprehension of bias” against the killer during his murder trial.

In a ruling last month, Quigley dismissed the defence bid — emphasizing the fact the deceased family’s donuts were offered to all in the courtroom — from the defence lawyers to the Crown and court staff — but not to the judge directly.

Quigley will sentence the killer for manslaughter in January.

“The assertion that the donuts were brought in just for me as a ‘gift’ to buy my favour is not grounded in the evidence, and is an insult to the Lypka family and to me,” wrote Quigley.

In June, a jury found Roberts-Stevens, 23, guilty of manslaughter — but acquitted him of second-degree murder — in the April 2016 shotgun slaying of Daniel Lypka in a Mimico parking lot.

The 28-year-old victim had lent the crack dealer his car and was frustrated after three days of angry text messages demanding his Honda Civic back.

With no weapon in his hands, Lypka confronted the drug dealer, who fatally shot him.

• Accused killer mourning his friend: Lawyer

At the time, Roberts-Stevens was under two weapons prohibitions while in possession of the illegal shotgun.

Four weeks after the jury’s verdict, the defence lawyers sought to have Quigley remove himself from the case, asserting he showed his bias against the accused by: “Stating in court that the judge understood exactly how the jury reached its verdict.

On the donut-gift charge, Quigley said the victim’s parents brought boxes of donuts to court and distributed them at the morning break on May 4 after he had left court.

“The donuts were offered to and shared by court staff, both Crown and defence counsel,” wrote Quigley.

Dan Lypka (Postmedia file)

“I was offered and accepted a cinnamon twist donut by court staff.

“The defence assertion that I accepted multiple ‘gifts of donuts” or that I accepted them directly from the Lypka family, is factually incorrect.

Justice Quigley said the defence allegation of having inside knowledge of the jury deliberations “is not worthy of comment.”

The accused testified he shot Lypka but did so in self defence. Quigley said the verdict meant the jury rejected his self defence claim and also concluded the intent to kill wasn’t proved, so it was manslaughter.

“Beyond these conclusions, I don’t know how the jury reached its conclusion any more than anyone else does, because jury deliberations are secret in this country and cannot be known by me or anyone else,” said Quigley.

The judge quoted Crown attorney Robert Kenny, who stated, “Your Honour is left with a case where zero plus zero plus zero gives you zero,” exhorting the court to dismiss the defence bid for recusal and go to sentencing.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A Toronto cop who overdosed on cannabis-oil infused chocolate seized in a police raid must wait until Nov. 26 to learn whether he’ll wind up with a criminal record.

Vittorio Dominelli pleaded guilty last Friday to attempting to obstruct justice in front of Justice Mary Misener, who  will pass sentence on Nov. 26. She could impose a sentence that will give Dominelli a criminal record on that day.

Defence lawyer Peter Brauti urged the judge to spare the 13-year police veteran a record by giving him a conditional discharge with 200 hours of community service.

Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter is seeking a conditional or stay-at-home sentence of 21 months, with Dominelli serving the first 10 months under house arrest. That sentence would saddle Dominelli with a record.

Dominelli’s actions endangered both citizens and police officers, diverted scarce police resources to a situation created by his choice and triggered the withdrawal of all charges against the dispensary accused, said Perlmutter.

“Call it stupidity or silliness, when you interfere with evidence, the impact on the justice system is just so profound,” the judge said. “He’s a complete idiot.”

Dominelli admitted taking three cannabis-oil infused chocolate bars from the floor of a Toronto dispensary that officers raided on Jan. 27.

In an ironic twist, Dominelli, 36, had planned to dump the three bars in the garbage but didn’t because he feared someone could get sick consuming it.

Instead, he chose to eat one bar with his partner Const. Jamie Young, court heard.

“I’m down if you are,” Dominelli says Young told him.

Dominelli said he and Young consumed a whole bar within 15 minutes, which violated the safe-consumption instructions marked on the treat’s label. The instructions suggested taking a small fraction of the bar and then waiting for a brief time to observe the drug’s effects.

“After about 20 minutes, the chocolates hit me suddenly like a tonne of bricks … I believed I was going to pass out,” Dominelli recalled in his statement.

He stated that neither he nor Young had ever tried marijuana before. “I realized instantly what a stupid thing we had done.”

Dominelli made a radio call for help and a police officer rushing to the scene at Oakwood Ave. slipped and suffered a concussion.

She still suffers difficulties with speech and vision and has yet to return to work, court heard.

Dominelli quit the Toronto Police force nine days ago.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A female officer who contends in an Ontario Human Rights complaint against Toronto Police that she rebuffed sexual advances from colleagues and superiors and endured sexist, racist slurs has been cut off from her pay and forced to sell her condo to pay mounting legal bills.

Const. Firouzeh “Effy” Zarabi-Majd, who has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, has been without a paycheque since Oct. 1.

She was given an ultimatum letter by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to sign off her right to sue or lose her benefits.

The letter states that if she accepts benefits then she “understands that she cannot start a lawsuit against anyone concerning this incident. Only the employer may do so.”

Zarabi-Majd’s complaint is the third similar complaint of sexual harassment in under a year within the police service.

“This is so unjust. Any officer who brings a human rights complaint must pay their own legal fees while the (alleged harassing) officers have their representation paid for by the city,” said Zarabi-Majd.

The Iranian-born Muslim alleged she has been sexually assaulted by a superior she trusted, Sgt. Hamil Leslie, as well as harassed and denied opportunities in her nearly 10-year career.

Near the end of 2015, she alleged Leslie — a long-time friend — visited her home for coffee, forcefully French-kissed her while hugging her, and she ordered him to leave.

“He said he was amazing in bed and I wouldn’t regret having sex with him,” wrote Zarabi-Majd. “I was devastated and disappointed in him and never wanted to speak to him again about anything other than work-related matters.”

Zarabi-Majd also alleged two larger cops, Const. Ryan Kotzer and Det.-Const. Christopher Hoeller, threatened in 2014 that if she didn’t have sex with both of them they’d spread false rumours about her having a threesome.

Hoeller is now working for in human trafficking for the Sex Crimes Unit.

• Female Toronto cop endured sexist and racist abuse: Human rights claim
• Toronto cop claims fellow officer sexually harassed and intimidated her
• Crown argues for re-trial of Toronto cop acquitted of sex assault charges

None of the allegations have been tested at a human rights tribunal.

Zachary Rosen, who represents the Toronto Police Association, indicated he had no comment while Sharmila Clark, a City of Toronto lawyer who represents the officers, didn’t respond to calls or emails.

Both will file their defence by Nov. 23.

“The city of Toronto is defending the police officers who are alleged to have sexually misbehaved,” said Zarabi-Majd’s lawyer, Barry Swadron. “Is it right for the city to pick sides?”

TPA President Mike McCormack said Zarabi-Majd’s claims “are untested allegations.”

He also said if any employee is being unjustly deprived of pay or benefits, the association will rigorously enforce its collective agreement without discrimination.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Tarana Burke is the brash black woman who founded the #MeToo movement a decade before Hollywood starlet Alyssa Milano seized the movement’s spotlight by targeting movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

The #MeToo movement has toppled Hollywood giants such as Weinstein and catapulted comedic legend Bill Cosby into prison. The movement has motivated women from every walk of life to report sexual violence and harassment and make perpetrators accountable.

“Women are going to be believed now — the social wave is with you,” said employment lawyer Howard Levitt. “Now you’re almost a heroine if you come forward. At one time, it might be ruinous if you made these allegations, but not any more.”

Toronto Police Sgt. Jessica McInnis.

Women are also realizing that civil courts, rather than criminal courts, are a superior venue for women to advance their allegations, said Levitt.

“The accused cannot run and hide in civil litigation — they have to face discoveries (giving sworn testimony before trial) and then a trial where they’ll be examined and cross-examined,” explained Levitt.

There’s evidence that the #MeToo has played out differently in the Toronto Police Service. Anyone accused of sexual misconduct won’t be punished — without due process — and their legal bills will be picked up by the city.

In the past year, Sgt. Jessica McInnis and Const. “Effy” Firouzeh Zarabi-Majd have filed Ontario Human Rights complaints, alleging sexual harassment and assault and rampant sexism through the police culture.

These women have footed the tab for bringing these allegations forward and are no longer working on the service while their alleged perpetrators remain on the payroll.

McInnis alleges she was sexually harassed by Det. Mark Morris — who admitted at an in-division police hearing to sending her explicit images, including “Anaconda” penis photos. He  was docked eight hours pay last January.

She received the same penalty for “receiving the inappropriate content” as her alleged abuser. McInnis “accepted responsibility for her actions” — which was receiving the images and not reporting them earlier.

Another officer, Det. Const. Chris Hoeller — who allegedly tried to coerce Zarabi-Majd into a threesome by threatening to spread false rumours that she engaged in group sex — works in the human trafficking section of the Sex Crimes Unit at TPS.

“It is astounding that not only the City of Toronto is not assisting these female employees, it is defending the alleged perpetrators,” said lawyer Barry Swadron, whose firm Swadron Associates, represents both McInnis and Zarabi at the human rights tribunal.

“This drives a truck through the #MeToo  movement. The law should be changed so that these victims shouldn’t have to bear these costly proceedings to enforce their rights.”

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said the “allegations are untested” and  everyone is entitled  to “due process, a fair hearing of these allegations.”

TPS spokesman Meghan Gray said the service cannot respond to the allegations at this time because they’re before the human rights tribunal.

spazzano@postmedia.com

The St. Mike’s Six are out on bail.

Appearing in youth court Monday afternoon with their parents, the six students of posh St. Michael’s College were all released on bail of between $5,000 and $7,000.

The boys — two in ill-fitting suits, the others more casual — appeared sombre while their parents looked mortified as they were questioned by the judge.

Several had high-priced, well-known lawyers.

The boys — all either 14- or 15-years-old — were students at St. Mike’s where tuition runs up to $21,000 annually to attend the private Roman Catholic school.

One of them was an honour student.

Just one of the boys was not a member of the football team but is a student the school where athletics are emphasized.

Cops say the lurid lockerroom antics allegedly involved the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in the wake of the junior football team’s 37-0 championship win over St. Mary’s on Nov. 7. The football players allegedly held down and beat the victim.

Sources told the Toronto Sun that the terrified boy was begging his attackers to stop.

But the worst was yet to come.

Two of the suspects allegedly tried to sodomize the victim with a broom handle.

Toronto Police at St. Michael’s College School following the report of a bomb threat on Nov. 19, 2018. (Ernest Doroszuk, Toronto Sun) Doroszuk/Toronto Sun

And as the boy was tormented and tortured, another of the St. Mike’s grid squad filmed the whole sickening affair.

“None of the boys appreciated the seriousness of these actions,” a source told The Toronto Sun.

“They commonly rough each other up and think it’s funny but this time, they crossed the line  into violence and criminal behaviour.”

The source added that the football team has a particularly “macho culture”.

Among the conditions the accused must follow are to live at home, social media is tightly restricted, stay away from St. Michael’s and not contact the coaches or anyone else involved in the case.

The six are back in court Dec. 19.

“I’ll be back.”

Those were the words accused murderer Ayubullo Mohammad-Daud uttered to Steven Doyle after Doyle beat him up and stole his watch in a downtown Toronto street fight, Crown attorney Lindsay Kromm said in her jury opening Monday.

“In less than an hour, the accused had come back — this time driving a van he’d just stolen — and although there were other people on George St. that afternoon, it was only when the accused reached Doyle that he swerved on to the sidewalk, striking Doyle and leaving him dead as he drove away,” said Kromm.

Kroom and co-counsel Karen Simone are alleging Mohammad-Daud, 23, exacted his revenge against the 27-year-old Doyle on Aug. 15, 2016.

Mohammad-Daud, 23, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

In admissions of fact read in court on Monday, the accused man conceded he stole the vehicle and was driving it when Doyle was run over on the same street where the fight happened, court heard Monday.

“Chris Brown, who was a regular on George St., will tell you he witnessed the fight between Doyle and the accused,” said Kromm. “Doyle confronted him and asked what he was doing there, asked him to leave and it escalated from there.

“Words were exchanged. Tensions were high, and the argument turned physical. At one point, Doyle put the accused in a chokehold and brought him to the ground,” said Kromm.

During the fight, which was captured by surveillance cameras, the accused wore a watch on his left wrist, said Kromm.

After the fight, a video shows there’s nothing on Mohammad-Daud’s left wrist. But the pathologist notes a wrist watch was found in the dead man’s pocket, court heard.

“It’s the Crown’s theory that not only had Doyle won the fight with the accused that afternoon, but that he had also stolen the accused’s watch,” said Kromm.

Doyle died from blunt force trauma to his head after he was hit by a vehicle travelling about 50 km/h before the van hit a pole and drove off along Gerrard St. E., court heard.

The accused was arrested nine days after the fatal collision. He had cut his hair and dyed his eyebrows, court heard.

The trial resumes Tuesday.

spazzano@postmedia.com