St. Mike’s embattled school principal Greg Reeves didn’t breach any duty-to-report obligations and has been “a standout” in the wake of the sexual violence scandal, says a prominent Toronto sexual abuse litigation specialist and a parent of a student at the school.

“The conduct of the principal has been excellent,” said Loretta Merritt, a parent of a Grade 9 St. Mike’s student and a lawyer with more than 25 years experience dealing with abuse cases.

“I think St. Mike’s is doing an outstanding job. This is a tragic situation all round and I’ve heard there are hazing rituals at other private all-boys schools. If this is common, that is horrifying,” said Merritt.

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“I haven’t seen a significant increase in student on student violence in my practice,” said Merritt, who doesn’t know the children involved in the criminal case.

Merritt has represented hundreds of clients in historical and recent sexual and physical abuse cases — including abuse by members of clergy, doctors, police officers, teachers, relatives and neighbours.

She has represented clients who have sued school boards (both public and private,) churches, children’s clubs, Children’s Aid Societies, Boy Scouts, Big Brothers, group homes and training schools.

“The media sees this (the principal’s delay) as a cover-up because it makes for a better story,” said Merritt.

“The principal has several obligations, beyond reporting this to the police, including protecting students and expelling those responsible.

“The principal waited 36 hours so that the boy could tell his mother face-to-face what happened and the school has taken several initiatives, including an independent investigation, counselling, an anonymous tip-line and the cancellation of activities, to help the community through this difficult period,” said Merritt.

“We are deeply saddened by the recent events that have taken place at our beloved school,” said St. Michael’s College board of directors in a statement issued Wednesday.

“They are offensive to everything we stand for and to the values we strive to instill in our students. Through this difficult time, our first priority remains to the victims and the safety and well-being of our entire student body, faculty and staff.”

The board said it was it was “united in support of both President Father Jefferson Thompson and Principal Greg Reeves.

“They continue to have the board’s full support for how this situation is being handled. Witnessing the standing ovation at last night’s (Tuesday) alumni meeting, I believe they have their overwhelming support.”

spazzano@postmedia.com

A promising Toronto criminal lawyer has become one of the city’s latest victims in the growing opioid crisis.

Defence lawyer Aghi Balachandran died of a fentanyl overdose several days after being removed in life-threatening condition from a west-end Toronto apartment on Saturday night where a man and woman, both in their 30s, were found dead.

Toronto Police responded to an overdose call in the Queen-Dufferin Sts. area at 8:20 p.m. involving the three people.

Police believe they died from fentanyl overdoses but the investigation is continuing, said spokesperson Meaghan Gray. The identities and occupations of the man and woman found dead at the scene weren’t released.

“He was aspiring and building a positive practice. He was well-liked by everybody and had unlimited potential,” said senior Scarborough Crown attorney Paul Kelly. “It’s a great loss and extremely sad.”

Another crown attorney, James Dunda, described him as a bright, trustworthy and upstanding lawyer.

“He was a smart, young lawyer who was above board in his dealings,” added Dunda. “He worked very hard on a case last month (resulting in a dismissal of an impaired driving charge against his client) and I was extremely impressed with him.”

Balachandran was single and had no children.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used as a painkiller. It is similar to morphine but up to 100 times more potent and much stronger than cocaine or heroin. It is used to dilute more expensive recreational drugs such as cocaine. Fentanyl is highly dangerous and often leads to overdose deaths.

Toronto Public Health statistics indicate 127 people have died so far this year from opioid overdoses, including 51 since Aug. 13.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A female dance instructor allegedly had an eight-month sexual relationship with a 12- to 13-year-old female student, court heard Thursday.

Cheryl Lee Thompson, 37, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and sexual interference charges in connection with assaults that allegedly occurred between Sept. 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008, while she worked as a freelance dance instructor.

Thompson taught dance at Studio 22 in Woodbridge, which she owned, and at the Vince Parrell Dance Studio in Toronto.

The alleged victim testified that she and Thompson were caught by police making out in the backseat of the instructor’s vehicle in January 2008.

Officers found the car’s windows steamed up in the corner of the Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot at Woodbine and O’Connor, court heard.

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In a videotaped police statement, the young teen insisted nothing untoward happened and so no charges were laid at that time, the judge-alone trial before Justice Breese Davies heard.

Seven years later, the dance student — now 25 — came to police and recanted her earlier statement, court heard. The woman testified that she and Thompson were involved in a sexual relationship, which grew from a warm teacher-student friendship at one of the dance studios.

The alleged victim testified she took baths at Thompson’s home where her teacher fondled her.

Thompson had a boyfriend at the time and has denied any sexual impropriety happened between her and the student. The alleged victim’s identity is covered by a publication ban.

The trial resumes on Thurs. Nov. 29.

spazzano@postmedia.com

A Toronto Police officer who ate a pot-laced chocolate bar he stole from an illegal dispensary during a raid will spend six months under house arrest as part of a nine-month conditional sentence.

Vittorio Dominelli, 36, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice this month, will serve the remaining three months of his sentence under supervision and must also also serve 60 hours of community service.

Dominelli’s crime “strikes at the very soul of the justice system and police officers (who commit this crime) must expect severe punishment,” said Justice Mary Misener, who added “the conduct here was wreckless, immature and impulsive.

Dominelli, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to attempting to obstruct justice, resigned from the force three weeks ago. He was part of a team that raided a west-end pot shop on Jan. 27 and scooped several cannabis-oil-infused chocolate bars.

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Court heard that Dominelli and another officer ignored the package’s warning and consumed a whole chocolate bar hours later. He and his partner were conducting surveillance outside an after-hours bar when they became extremely high.

The 13-year veteran thought he was going to die, panicked and made an officer-needs-assistance call on his police radio, said Misener.

When other officers hurried to the scene, one of them slipped on ice and suffered a severe head injury, court heard. That officer still has “significant difficulties with speech and vision,” and has not been able to return to work.

Toronto Police Const. Vittorio Dominelli appears with a fellow officer in a Bollywood-style video posted online.

“(Dominelli) not only stole evidence, he got himself into a state of intoxication which endangered the public,” said Misener.

“He committed multiple breaches of trust, the trust of his position,” added the judge. “He was inside the dispensary (due to a search warrant). He put himself ‘wandering outside in a haze,’ a state he put himself in while armed with a loaded handgun,” said Misener.

His irresponsible conduct “lends credence to allegations of evidence tampering. . undermining the justice system,” said Misener.

Dominelli’s lawyer Peter Brauti argued that his client should be discharged and spared a criminal record because he surrendered his promising career, pleaded guilty at an early stage and was humiliated by the international attention the case attracted.

A  record would hinder his chances of obtaining  new employment, added Brauti.

Misener disagreed, saying it would be contrary to the public interest to give Dominelli a discharge.

Seven people were charged in the pot-shop raids, but all those charges were dropped due to Dominelli’s actions, noted Misener.

This incident was “out of character” for the 13-year police veteran who was known for compassion and reliability. He had never used pot before.

— With files from The Canadian Press

KITCHENER, Ont. — A jealous teen who sexually manipulated her lovestruck boyfriend into murdering a 14-year-old girl was granted day parole for six months.

The Parole Board of Canada made the decision on Melissa Todorovic’s case Tuesday after a hearing at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, where she is being held.

The 26-year-old inmate accepted complete responsibility for masterminding the New Year’s Day 2008 killing by lover David Bagshaw of Stefanie Rengel whom Todorovic viewed as a rival.

Stefanie Rengel, 14, was fatally stabbed New Year’s Day 2008.

Rengel had briefly dated Todorovic’s then-boyfriend, David Bagshaw, years earlier and Todorovic threatened to break up with him or withhold sex unless he killed his former flame.

Rengel’s divorced parents, Patricia Hung and Adolfo Rengel, both said afterwards they were scarred by the tragedy and noted that Todorovic “couldn’t show any empathy for the victims.

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“The reality is that no one comes through such a devastating event unscathed,” said Hung, a retired Toronto Police officer, in reading her victim impact statement.

“I live in fear every day. Everything frightens me. The simplest things, such as shopping for groceries with my husband (Sgt. James Hung) and leaving the kids at home, is one example,” said Hung, a mom of six, including two adopted girls from China.

David Bagshaw, convicted of killing 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel in 2008.

A teen sentenced as an adult, Todorovic is serving a life in prison without parole eligibility for seven years after being convicted of first-degree murder in 2009. Bagshaw pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2009 and was sentenced to life with no parole for 10 years.

“I don’t believe 10 years in jail is sufficient punishment (for murder). We are the victims doing a life sentence,” said Stefanie’s father, Adolfo, a court officer who drives inmates throughout the GTA.

“There has been 10 years of suffering for our families, birthdays, Christmas, not being able to see Stefanie grow. Melissa Todorovic is a very smart woman and obviously extremely good at manipulating for her advantage as we know,” said Rengel, a father of three.

The board imposed restrictions, including one that Todorovic would have to report any relationships, from friendships to intimate unions, to her supervisor. She was ordered to avoid the Rengel families and report any accidental or incidental contact with them.

— With files from The Canadian Press

spazzano@postmedia.com

Four female police officers — including two who currently have cases before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal — will be suing Toronto Police.

The officers allege they have been the subjected to sexual harassment while on the job, including being sent possibly hundreds of images via text message.

Those images have been described as “sexually degrading, humiliating and at the very least, serious sexual harassment.” says lawyer Howard Levitt, who represents the women.

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Levitt says the women complained to the force and allegedly faced further retaliation.

One woman was docked eight hours’ pay for not reporting her complaint in a timely fashion.

“If 1% of what’s going on in the TPS happened in any significant private sector company, heads would roll instantly,” says Levitt.

“I understand everyone in senior positions in the police know about it, and have done absolutely nothing to protect them.

“It’s astonishing that in this organization that’s supposed to be protecting women, inviting women to come forward to lay charges of sexual assault, they have the worst miscreants of all.

“It’s the height of hypocrisy and irony.”

The lawsuit won’t be filed until early 2019, he added.

He says a lawsuit makes financial sense.

“The police force is capable of putting in so many witnesses, that these two complainants (with current Human Rights complaints) would be bankrupted well before they ever got to a final decision.” says Levitt.

“So, we’re going to deal with it through avenues that are not cost prohibitive.”

Meaghan Gray of Toronto Police said the service takes harassment and discrimination very seriously.

“Over the last several years steps have been taken to provide members with better awareness and supervisors with better training to appropriately deal with these types of issues,” she said.

“There is always room for improvement and the Chief and Command are fully committed to addressing any violations of the Human Rights Code. We cannot speculate on a lawsuit that has yet to be filed.”

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

spazzano@postmedia.com

A Niagara Regional police officer shot most of his 15-bullet magazine at a fellow officer after an altercation between the two in Pelham on Thursday, the Sun has learned.

The victim — wounded Const. Nathan Parker — had a portion of his nose blown off by one round but survived the barrage of bullets because he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, say sources.

Parker remains in stable condition.

It’s believed the two officers have a history but no one has revealed the origin of their “bad blood.”

The shooting followed a heated argument between Const. Parker and Det. Sgt. Shane Donovan about the reconstructionist work being done at an impaired driving collision in the area of Effingham St. and Roland Rd.

Parker became infuriated and conflict escalated, sources said.

Niagara Regional Police Const. Nathan Parker

Parker has a history of violence against prisoners with three convictions under the Police Act, during his career. he was docked 120 hours in 2015 after pleading guilty to discreditable conduct and unnecessary use of force against a prisoner.

In 2012, he lost 60 hours pay after conducting his own investigation into a commanding officer who had been cleared of wrongdoing from a previous incident.

The previous year, Parker was found guilty of using unnecessary force and in 2008, he was docked 90 days pay for arresting a cyclist without cause.

In 2007, Parker lost a week’s pay after he was found guilty in a disciplinary hearing for pepper spraying a handcuffed and restrained prisoner in the backseat of a cruiser in 2005.

Donovan has been designated the subject officer, but the SIU hasn’t released his name or the names of the shooting victim or 12 has been designated. The officer who was struck, as well as 12 officers have been designated as witness officers.

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The SIU doesn’t reveal identities of officers who have been designated during the course of an SIU investigation.

Defence lawyer Michael Lacy said subject officers — those who could potentially face charges — cannot be compelled to give statements but witness officers must provide statements and can have a lawyer present.

If the SIU determines a witness officer should be a subject officer, they must warn the officer of the change and the officer can either refuse to give a statement or provide one with counsel present, said Lacy, who has represented police officers for five years.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid and report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General, said SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Joaquim Gomes Dos Penedos caused a three-vehicle crash when he drove his roofing company’s Ford F350 pick-up truck through a red light in Etobicoke at 67 km/h during the afternoon rush hour on Halloween day in 2015.

The impact of the horrendous collision reshaped the Portuguese immigrant’s life in an unimaginable way:  In addition to being acquitted of a serious offence, he’s now on medication for his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

His previously undiagnosed ADHD was key in a judge’s decision two weeks ago to acquit Penedos of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving.

“I don’t know how to describe it when I heard the verdict,” said Gomes Dos Penedos through an interpreter. “It was the end of a nightmare.”

Driver Joaquin Gomes Dos Penedos and his wife, Paula Maria. (Stan Behal, Toronto Sun)

“Whoever knows me knows that I’m incapable of harming anyone,” said the 45-year-old father of two.

One man injured in the crash — at Horner Ave. and Thirtieth St. — required surgery to stop brain bleeding and “continues to be treated for neurological issues and other ailments as a result of the collision,” court heard. Others suffered minor injuries requiring treatment for scrapes and bruises.

All three vehicles were damaged so badly they had to be written off.

Gomes Dos Penedos was found not guilty of the charges he faced when Justice Antonio DiZio found that while the driver’s driving was clearly dangerous, he had a reasonable doubt on whether the prosecution proved the mental element — also  known as “mens rea” or “criminal intent” — required for a conviction.

The reason the judge had a doubt was that he heard expert evidence that Gomes Dos Penedos had  undiagnosed (ADHD) — which was only discovered after the roofer’s lawyer, David Costa, sent his client for a psychiatric assessment.

Lawyer David Costa (Craig Robertson, Toronto Sun)

The hard-working Gomes Dos Penedos — who had an unblemished driving record and no criminal record — would have to go through a living hell before finally getting his condition addressed.

For the next three years after the crash, Gomes Dos Penedos lived a nightmare of uncertainty that included a possible jail sentence.

“Unfortunately, people were hurt and we are very sad about the accident and we prayed for them to be OK,” said his wife, Paula Maria.

Psychiatrist Mayer Hoffer, a recognized expert in the field of ADD, diagnosed Gomes Dos Penedos’ condition, stating in a report filed to court: “His ADD symptoms played a role and very likely a very significant role” in the Oct. 31, 2015 crash.

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After prescribing medication, he found Gomes Dos Penedos became more attentive, organized and his “executive function” improved dramatically.

“When I met him, he was always staring off into space, never focussing, fidgeting and restless,” recalled Costa in an interview. “I knew there was something amiss with him.”

Since starting treatment, the change in his life has been “astonishing,” said Costa.

“The Stress” is now The Best: Wife

His co-workers nicknamed roofer Joaquim Gomes Dos Penedos “The Stress.”

He laughingly recalled his nickname two weeks after he was acquitted of dangerous driving charges.

When he crashed his company’s pick-up truck, he was obsessed with the details of preparations for his late mother’s All Saints ceremony the next day. He cruised through a red light, causing an horrific three-car collision.

Gomes Dos Penedos was a bundled coil of nerves, his eyes darting into space and yet sometimes he could be hyper-focussed. He doesn’t do drugs, drinks moderately and only on special occasions.

His wife Paula Maria said her spouse couldn’t sit still for a TV show and never appeared to be listening to her or responding in a conversation.

Psychiatrist Mayer Hoffer diagnosed Gomes Dos Penedos as clearly having “Attention Deficit Disorder (inattentive subtype)” and believed he “almost certainly has had it all his life.”

Children with ADD grow from hard-to-soothe infants to hyperactive toddlers. As boys, they have “ants in their pants” and later never realize their potential, said Hoffer.

Gomes Dos Penedos left school in Grade 7 to help support in his family with eight children in Portugal. He always had trouble concentrating and lacked confidence “as he felt not as smart as others and feared he wouldn’t be able to complete his tasks,” said Hoffer.

After taking Dexedrine, Gomes Dos Penedos was transformed into a focused, calmer man. He was promoted to a supervisor of eight to 10 roofers. He’s no longer “The Stress.”

“I can finally watch a movie with him. He pays attention to our conversations and is more focused and in the moment,” said his smiling wife. “I’ve finally got the husband I’ve always dreamed of having.”

spazzano@postmedia.com

A Niagara Regional Police officer shot by a fellow cop was hit with six or seven bullets during an altercation between the two, sources told The Toronto Sun.

Bullets struck Const. Nathan Parker’s heel, upper leg and his shoulder. Three rounds landed or deflected off his bullet-proof vest while another round tore off a portion of his nose.

It’s believed the gun was fired in close proximity to the officer, who survived the barrage of bullets because of his bulletproof vest, say sources. It’s possible the two officers were fighting over the firearm.

Parker remains in stable condition.

Det.-Sgt. Shane Donovan has been designated the subject officer by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, but the agency hasn’t released his name or identified the  shooting victim.

Toronto Sun sources have identified this as Niagara Regional Police Const. Nathan Parker, the officer who was allegedly shot by a fellow cop, Det.-Sgt. Shane Donovan, in Pelham, Ont., on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Facebook)

The shooting followed a heated argument between Parker and Donovan about the reconstructionist work being done at an impaired driving collision, according to sources.

Parker, who was supposed to be guarding the scene during the reconstruction, had left the scene for a bathroom break but his absence was perceived as extraordinarily long. When he radioed that he was returning to duty, he was told: “Don’t bother.” Parker became infuriated and conflict escalated, sources said.

Parker has a history of violence against prisoners with three convictions under the Police Act, during his career. He was docked 120 hours in 2015 after pleading guilty to discreditable conduct and unnecessary use of force against a prisoner.

In 2012, he lost 60 hours pay after conducting his own investigation into a commanding officer who had been cleared of wrongdoing from a previous incident.

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The previous year, Parker was found guilty of using unnecessary force and in 2008, he was docked 90 days pay for arresting a cyclist without cause.

In 2007, Parker lost a week’s pay after he was found guilty in a disciplinary hearing for pepper spraying a handcuffed and restrained a robbery suspect in the backseat of a cruiser in June 2005.

In appeal documents obtained by the Toronto Sun, Parker “used open hand distraction techniques” — one to three slaps about the head to force the non-compliant suspect to sit down.

Parker claimed he “used pepper spray on the suspect while he was outside the cruiser and unrestrained.”

The suspect said Parker “continued hitting him, got him handcuffed and peppersprayed him after he got in the cruiser.”

Parker “made no mention of the pepperspray” in either his arrest report or in his notebook, but “claimed it was not a deliberate omission; that he was tired and simply forgot,” the appeal stated.

“The Hearing Officer found Const. Parker’s evidence on several aspects of the events to be misleading, inconsistent or untruthful,” stated the decision upholding his conviction.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Music journalist and photographer Zach Noureddine’s accused killer never knew his violent actions would probably cause the death of the young man from Ottawa so he should be acquitted of murder, his lawyer argued Monday.

Lawyer Chris Morris, who represents Patrick Smith, said in his closing argument that his client should be convicted only of manslaughter against the promising journalist and assault against his friend, Mitchell Conery on Dec. 29, 2015.

The Crown is alleging Smith, co-accused Matthew Moreira and Will Cummins committed first-degree murder by killing Noureddine, 26, while simultaneously robbing and unlawfully confining Conery, his pal.

Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to manslaughter while Moreira, 34, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery. Those guilty pleas were rejected by the Crown.

The Crown contends that it was an intentional murder: A vicious beating committed while the victim was unlawfully confined.

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In order for Smith to be convicted of murder, he would have “had to know in his own mind — in those few brief seconds — that his actions would likely, probably cause death,” said Morris. But he did not, according to the defence.

Cummins sucker-punched Conery, who lost his eyeglasses and remained on the ground while Noureddine was beaten to death. Moreira then put his foot on Conery and said, “Give me the wallet and we’re done,” court heard. Conery had no wallet.

Cummins and Smith ganged up on Noureddine, punching and kneeing him. Smith also kicked the victim in the head. A tiny neck bone, which was between the thickness of a dime or a nickel, was shattered, severing an artery and causing fatal bleeding, court heard.

Cummins, Smith and Moreira were drinking heavily and smoking marijuana while Smith also consumed cocaine that night, the trial was told.

Moreira’s lawyer Chris Hicks said his client played no role in Noureddine’s death and is guilty only of the attempted robbery of Conery.

“Manslaughter is the only fair and reasonable conclusion on all the evidence,” argued Hicks.

Noureddine had moved from Ottawa to Toronto a few years earlier to pursue his career dreams.

The jury will begins its deliberations on Wednesday after Justice Suhail Akhtar gives his final instructions.

spazzano@postmedia.com

The Richmond Hill man accused of killing 10 people in a van attack in north Toronto will go on trial on Feb. 3, 2020.

Alek Minassian, 26, didn’t appear in court Tuesday but his lawyer Boris Bytensky and North York Crown attorney Joe Callaghan set his trial date during the case’s first time in Superior Court.

Lawyers estimated the trial would last three to four months, but that time frame could be shortened in the intervening time frame.

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Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in the April 23 Yonge Street attack.

Bytensky said Minassian probably won’t appear again in court as a designation has been filed. A designation enables an accused’s counsel to appear on his behalf.

“Minassian won’t show up unless he has to be here, for example, he’d certainly have to be here for a guilty plea or a trial,” Bytensky said.

“It’s really very soon for a trial. Normally, we’d be picking preliminary hearing dates instead of a trial date at this point,” Bytensky told reporters.

Police allege Minassian drove a rental van down a busy sidewalk along Yonge south of Finch Avenue, mowing down pedestrians along the way.

Last month, court heard the deputy attorney general granted the prosecution’s request to skip the preliminary hearing in the case and head straight to trial.

Justice John McMahon suggested a September 2019 tentative trial date, but Bytensky said he would rather “pick a realistic trial date,” given the complexity of the case and the fact the defence is still receiving disclosure.

Bytensky said he has already received a substantial volume of disclosure, which is the accumulated evidence including interviews and surveillance videos, that investigators have compiled.

The lawyers will be back in court on Jan. 31, 2019.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Wayne and Marlene Penner watched the shocking news last week about a Niagara Regional Police officer who was shot by a fellow officer.

They wondered aloud if the wounded officer might be Const. Nathan Parker — the cop who allegedly beat a handcuffed Wayne Penner while he was in custody 15 years ago.

The couple took their fight against Parker to Canada’s highest court for the right to sue Parker and Niagara Regionial Police. And they won a landmark case.

“Too bad it wasn’t Parker — and then it was,” said Wayne Penner.

Wayne Penner claims he was roughed up in a Niagara courtroom by Parker and another officer who alleged Penner had been disruptive and refused to leave court after Parker finished testifying against Wayne’s wife.

Parker ticketed Marlene Penner for not having her licence plate on the front of her Corvette. The plate lay on the dashboard.

Parker and another cop dragged the 6-foot-3, 250 pound Penner from the courtroom and he alleged Parker beat him while he was handcuffed at the St. Catharines police station where he suffered a black eye, scrapes, a bruised knee and other injuries that required treatment in hospital.

Toronto Sun sources have identified this as Niagara Regional Police Const. Nathan Parker, the officer who was allegedly shot by a fellow cop, Det.-Sgt. Shane Donovan, in Pelham, Ont., on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Facebook)

“I thought he was going to kill me,” recalled Penner. “He’s a stocky 5-foot-10, 210 pounds of muscle. He’s a little walking building.”

He claims the beating stopped when another officer heard the commotion inside the station.

Penner was charged with causing a disturbance, breach of probation and resisting arrest. All charges were withdrawn in June 2003.

Penner then made a complaint against Parker under the Police Services Act, alleging unlawful arrest and unnecessary use of force and also launched a civil lawsuit seeking $2 million in damages in a case that went to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Penner won the right to sue in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 2013 and later settled.

“Too bad it’s not Parker,” mused Wayne Penner to his nodding wife when he heard the bizarre news of the police shooting of another cop.

Niagara Regional Police, OPP and the SIU attend a scene where a Niagara Regional Police officer was shot by another cop on Nov. 29. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

“Then, the TV reporter said it was Parker and our jaws hit the floor and we celebrated like we’d won the lottery,” said the 67-year-old retired stonemason from Niagara On The Lake.

“Now I really feel vindicated,” said Wayne Penner.

“He put us through hell,” said wife Marlene Penner. “I was never so afraid of anyone in my life when he pulled me over. He was ranting and ballistic because he didn’t see my licence plate.”

It took a decade of legal wrangling, starting with a defeat at the Police Services Act tribunal where a hearing officer — appointed by the Chief of Police — found the officers not guilty of misconduct, dismissing the complaint and ruling the arrest was lawful.

Penner appealed to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, which reversed the hearing officer’s decision saying the arrest was unlawful.

Parker fought the allegations and won the next two court rounds — first at the Ontario Divisional Court, which concluded the officers had legal authority to make the arrest and reinstated the hearing officer’s decision rejecting the complaint.

The police then successfully moved to stop Penner’s civil suit, a decision that was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

But Toronto lawyer Julian Falconer convinced Penner to oppose the long odds of appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada because Falconer said: “What happened to you just shouldn’t happen.”

Falconer argued it was unfair to allow a police discipline process controlled by the chief of police to protect the chief and his officers from civil action. And the Supreme Court agreed.

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Canada’s highest court ruled that barring Penner from proceeding with his civil suit was a “serious affront to basic principles of fairness.”

“(It) had the effect of permitting the chief of police to become the judge of his own case, with the result that his designate’s decision had the effect of exonerating the chief and his police service from civil liability,” the decision stated.

“The police complaints system was intended to protect the public against police abuse,” said Falconer in a media release in 2013.

“It was never intended to be used by the police to gain a tactical advantage in civil proceedings. The Supreme Court of Canada declared that loudly and clearly.”

Penner said he and his wife were in Florida when Falconer phoned them with the news.

“If you’re standing up, sit down. You’ve won,” Penner recalled Falconer saying to him.
“We won the right to sue and it was precedent setting case by the Supreme Court.”

The details of the 2013 settlement are confidential.

Parker remains in hospital in stable condition and could not be reached for comment.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Two men accused of killing promising music journalist and photographer Zack Noureddine were found guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter respectively by a jury after less than a day of deliberations.

Patrick Smith wiped away tears after the jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but guilty of second-degree murder on Thursday.

Matthew Moreira appeared upset as well after he was acquitted of murder but convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter in the stomping death of the 25-year-old victim on Dec. 29, 2015.

Smith, 28, was also convicted of assaulting Noureddine’s friend Mitchell Conery while Moreira, 34, was convicted of robbing Conery.

“I’m disappointed as I had hoped both would be convicted of murder,” Noureddine’s father Hassan said afterward.

“Our hope is that the judge sees fit to give these killers the longest sentence possible,” the software engineer and father of three sons said.

(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 on Jan. 3, 2016. (Postmedia files)

“It wasn’t Zack they targeted — it could have been anyone. It could have been any Canadian citizen and Zack just paid the price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he added.

“Zack was an extremely kind and generous young man who used to feed the homeless he saw on the streets,” said Hassan.

The Crown alleged Smith, Moreira and a third man, Will Cummins, committed first-degree murder by killing Noureddine while simultaneously robbing and unlawfully confining his pal Conery.

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The Crown contended it was an intentional murder: A vicious beating committed while the victim was unlawfully confined.

Conery testified he was sucker-punched by Cummins, lost his eyeglasses and remained on the ground while Noureddine was beaten to death.

Moreira then put his foot on Conery and said, “Give me the wallet and we’re done,” court heard.

Conery had no wallet.

Former University of Ottawa student Zaher “Zack” Noureddine was beaten to death in Toronto on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015. (Facebook)

Cummins allegedly joined Smith in punching and kneeing Noureddine. Smith also kicked the victim in the head. A tiny neck bone — between the thickness of a dime and a nickel — was shattered, severing an artery and causing fatal bleeding, court heard.

Smith, Moreira and allegedly Cummins were drinking heavily and smoking marijuana while Smith also consumed cocaine that night, the trial was told.

Cummins will have his own trial next year.

Noureddine moved from Ottawa to Toronto a few years earlier to pursue his career dreams.

Justice Suhail Akhtar will sentence the two killers March 29.

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It took 30 minutes for Ayubulo Mohammad-Daud to exact deadly revenge against Steven Doyle for beating him and stealing his watch in a Regent Park street fight by running him over in a stolen van.

And it only took a jury under three hours to reject the 23-year-old’s ridiculous testimony that this planned, deliberate killing was an accident on Aug. 15, 2016.

Instead, the jury found the smirking assassin guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of the 27-year-old father of two young children. The verdict locked up Mohammad-Daud for a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Steven Doyle, 27, a father of two, was deliberately run down and killed by a driver in a stolen van on George St. on Aug. 15, 2016. (Toronto Police handout)

The jury concluded the remorseless killer drove back to his losing fight scene on George St. and swerved onto the sidewalk, striking Doyle and leaving him dead as he drove away.

“This young man made a decision and in less than 10 seconds, my life was changed forever,” Doyle’s heartbroken father, Russell Stuffels, said in his victim impact statement an hour after the jury’s verdict.

“I feel like this sadness will never go away,” he stated.

“Sometimes I hear a certain song and it all comes back, or sometimes the memories of me putting him to bed when he was a baby by singing or playing my guitar to him would just flood my thoughts,” Stuffels added.

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

When the murderer was arrested nine days later, he had cut his hair and dyed his eyebrows, court heard.

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Seventeen days before this murder, Mohammad-Daud drove another stolen vehicle and struck two Mississauga construction workers who tried to stop him after he swiped some credit cards from a work-site.

One worker left wrist was fractured while the other suffered a dislocated collarbone, three broken ribs and a scratch on his left shin.

Mohammad-Daud pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and received a six-year prison sentence earlier this year for that incident.

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One of the two identical brothers accused of murdering a Mississauga teen was already on bail for charges, including robbery and uttering death threats, when arrested for the fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Riley Driver-Martin.

Nicholas Mahabir, 20 — a triplet, who was accused last month of breaching his bail conditions — was on a release for allegedly uttering death threats in January and for robbery charges stemming from allegations in May when arrested again last Friday.

Mahabir will be back in court on Wednesday for the murder charge and two days later for the threatening, robbery and breach allegations.

He and triplet Mark are facing second-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Driver-Martin. The teen was found in a park area behind Ecole Horizon Jeunesse Public School, on Lewisham Dr., at 8 a.m. Friday by a friend.

Riley Driver-Martin, 14, was found murdered in Mississauga on Dec. 7, 2018. (Supplied)

Sources told the Sun the two accused men allegedly accompanied Driver-Martin into the park shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday.

Peel Regional Police spotted Nicholas Mahabir near his Sandgate Cres. home in Mississauga about 15 hours after the discovery of the teen’s body and charged him with murder.

“He is maintaining his innocence at this time and we’ll be exploring every avenue of defence on his behalf,” said Nicholas’ lawyer, Marcus Bornfreund.

Mark Mahabir turned himself in Saturday at 11 division in Peel.

“I expect him to be acquitted,” said Mark’s lawyer David Midanik in a phone interview Monday.  Mark Mahabir will be back in court on Dec. 24.

Police have alleged the killing wasn’t random and the victim was targeted.

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The victim was described as a “great kid” and the “best” by his distraught uncle Donny Sexton.

Driver-Martin stood up to bullies, especially those preying upon smaller children and his slaying “has devastated his family and the community” in Mississauga’s  Truscott Dr. area, said Sexton.

Police said Driver-Martin was a “completely innocent victim” and wasn’t known to them.

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Ontario’s highest court has tossed out a 20-month jail sentence and convictions imposed on a law school graduate and former basketball coach who was found guilty of having teenage boys send him photos of their genitalia.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that Jordan Cristoferi-Paolucci’s Charter right to a timely trial was violated.

“Obviously, this trial should have never happened in the first place,” said winning appeals lawyer Frank Addario. “It just took too long. It illustrates that the system has failed miserably to accommodate the number of serious cases in it.”

Cristoferi-Paolucci, 28, was convicted of luring, exploitation, making, possessing, and accessing child pornography after a court concluded he had underage males expose themselves, take videos of their genitals, and text the images to him in 2012 and 2013.

Charged with charged with child pornography and luring offences in May 2013, he lost his bid for a stay on an unreasonable delay — then 41 months — in October, 2016 before Justice Robert Goldstein.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that Goldstein wrongly concluded the delay was reasonable, so it set aside the convictions and 20-month prison sentence and stayed the proceedings in a judgment last Thursday. Cristoferi-Paolucci was free on bail pending appeal so he never served any jail time.

”There are no transitional exceptional circumstances that justify the delay in this case,” wrote Justice David Watt in an unanimous decision.

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Trial judge Justice Faye McWatt found Cristoferri-Paolucci “targeted children in a systematic way for the purpose of influencing the production of child pornography” and that his interaction with one victim culminated in sexual touching on three occasions.

Cristoferri-Paolucci has a masters of laws degree but has not passed the bar exam to become a full-fledged lawyer.

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Deadly “puppetmaster” Melissa Todorovic “demonstrated remorse,” stated a parole board decision that granted day parole last month for manipulating her boyfriend into killing 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel.

“While you have struggled in the past to express empathy and demonstrate remorse, today, you presented as genuine,” the decision stated of Todorovic who has spent almost 11 years in custody for her first-degree murder conviction for the New Year’s Day 2008 tragedy.

The decision noted that Todorovic, 26, was only 15 when she embarked on an eight-month campaign of phone calls, 50,000 MSN messages and thousands of texts exhorting boyfriend David Bagshaw to fatally stab Rengel — a girl Todorovic had never met.

After the killing, the couple celebrated with sex — the reward Todorovic promised Bagshaw.

Within hours, both Bagshaw, 17, and Todorovic, 15, were under arrest and eventually convicted of first-degree murder as youths but sentenced as adults to life terms, with Bagshaw eligible for parole after 10 years, Todorovic after seven.

Trial judge Justice Ian Nordheimer called Todorovic “the puppet master who. . . puts the wheels in motion and then stands back under a facade of dissociation while the scheme that they have created unfolds.”

Stefanie’s grieving mother, Patricia Hung, was skeptical after the hearing.

“I do not see a changed person in Melissa,” said Hung, a retired Toronto cop.

“I see someone who has become more cunning, hoping with those few words of so-called remorse that she is fooling those who should have the experience to see through them, I do not hear empathy here, except for herself.”

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A man accused of killing a young woman in Toronto’s Gay Village last year was committed to stand trial for first-degree murder on Monday.

It was determined Kalen Schlatter, 22, would appear on Dec. 31 at Superior Court of Justice to set a trial date — likely in the fall of 2019 — after Justice Mavin Wong gave her decision after a preliminary hearing.

Schlatter is accused of killing Tess Richey in November, 2017. The 22-year-old North Bay woman died of “neck compression,” police have said.

Tess Richey

Schlatter lost a bid to be released on bail last summer, but the reasons for that decision are covered by a publication ban. At the time, Schlatter’s mother sobbed loudly in the courtroom — packed with supporters for both Richey and Schlatter.

Richey was reported missing on Nov. 25, 2017, after a night out with a friend in the Church-Wellesley Sts. area.

Her mom, who travelled from the family home in North Bay to search for her daughter, found Richey’s body four days later in a stairwell at a building under renovation, just steps from where she was last seen alive.

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Police were sharply criticized for their inability to locate Richey in the days after her disappearance. Two officers are now facing misconduct charges under the Police Services Act in connection with the case.

Schlatter, who appeared clean-shaven with his hair neatly styled, sat stoically during the proceedings.

Both his and Richey’s family declined to be interviewed after Monday’s ruling, but Richey’s sisters took to social media.

“Tears of joy and grief,” Hailey Richey wrote on Facebook.

Varina Richey said on Twitter that she “would now like focus to go back firmly where it belongs: On Tess & what she lost, on the loss for Tess’ immediate family & friends, but also on what the world lost when she was stolen.”

Police have said Richey and Schlatter did not know each other before the night of her disappearance.

They said Richey met Schlatter on the street after she and her friend left a bar. Surveillance video shows Schlatter and Richey together near the alley where her body was found.

Schlatter was charged with second-degree murder in July but the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder after new evidence was found, police have said.

spazzano@postmedia.com

Law student and escort Nadia Guo will take her fight to become a lawyer to a good character hearing before the Law Society of Ontario on Thursday.

Guo, 28, must prove she’s a person of good character so that she can be called to the bar after some lawyers made complaints “about her relentlessly and remorselessly appalling” behaviour which they contend made her unfit to become a lawyer.

It wasn’t her night or weekend job — which consisted of realizing people’s wildest sexual fantasies as a self-described “bedroom nymph” — that jeopardized her chance for a legal career.

No one complained about her escort job.

Instead, lawyers reported a litany of breaches to the Law Society while she worked as an articling student from July 2015 to December 2015, for Toronto criminal defence lawyer Marco Forte, including leaking confidential communications from a private lawyer-to-lawyer Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA) website to her widely-read Twitter account.

Ottawa lawyer John Hale and Ryan Manilla contacted Guo privately to urge her to stop, but she reacted “with hostility,” an agreed statement of fact (ASF) filed at the tribunal stated.

Guo called Manilla “a psychotic f—” and wrote, “Dude, don’t compare me to yourself. It’s so f—ing insulting,” the ASF stated.

“Guo’s conduct as an articling student demonstrated an inability and unwillingness to deal … in a civil and respectful manner, and, in fact, whose treatment of counsel and other justice participants is so relentlessly and remorselessly appalling that she appears unfit to be called to the bar,” wrote Hale in the ASF.

“It could be that Ms. Guo’s thought processes and behaviour are the product of mental illness or personality disorder,” added Hale.

“I hope she gets the help she needs.”

Screen capture of dawnleeto.com

She was once arrested at 393 University Ave. — at a civil court clerk’s office —  after giving the finger to staff after she waited hours to be served on July 15, 2015.

No charges were laid.

Guo also tried to scoop other lawyers’ clients from courthouses. When Toronto lawyer Jordan Weisz told her to stop, she retaliated on her Twitter account by arguing about “white male privilege” on posts that some CLA members “found denigrating and offensive,” the ASF stated.

“Guo engaged in a cruel enjoyment of attacking people without having to suffer any repercussions of her behaviour,” stated Weisz in the ASF.

Guo once tweeted she had a “girlcrush” on the female judge, a former professor of hers at Osgoode Hall Law School. She referred to the judge by her first name.

Weisz said those tweets were offensive and concerning and Guo removed them, but e-mailed him directly saying: “Get a life.”

In December 2015, Guo used her website and Twitter feeds to make comments that “were disparaging to specific Crown counsel, demeaning to Crown prosecutions and contained unsupported suggestions that ‘the entire administration of justice is corrupt,’” stated the ASF.

Another downtown law firm where Guo worked as a summer student in 2013 stated she wore “totally inappropriate, ultra-revealing clothing, which made staff uncomfortable,’” the ASF indicated.

She was fired for her clothing, tardiness, being unhelpful with clients and for shouting matches with her mom on the phone.

Guo completed her articling with another lawyer, John Kaldas, in July 2017, and has apologized in a sincere letter to Hale and the Crown’s office.

She has also undergone certified executive coaching to improve her professional conduct, the ASF stated.

(Instagram)

“Let’s shock the world and declare that we are now fast friends!” wrote Hale in May this year.

“I’m gonna be a feminist porn star, quoting Charter jurisprudence as I orgasm. Either that or a dominatrix, whipping the sorry red asses of sorry-assed lawyers who need their heads pulled outta the sand. Or both,” she tweeted.

Guo made the Dean’s List in prestigious universities and appeared to be a bright, ambitious student at law school who paid the hefty fees by charging third-year Bay Street lawyers’ fees ($300) for sexual services and dates to clients.

The Canadian born daughter of Chinese parents works as a “bedroom nymph” escort under the name “Dawn Lee.”

“I guess I was destined to be a professional seductress … I learned early on that love came with its baggage, but sex didn’t have to,” she wrote in a web page dated 2017-18.

“It wasn’t long before I realized I could be charging men for the pleasure of pleasuring me. Seduction was my first tongue.”

spazzano@postmedia.com