TORONTO - The co-host of an HGTV real-estate program is suing Toronto Police for libel and slander after charges against him of criminal harassment and attempted fraud were withdrawn by the Crown.
Barrington Anthony Sayers, who co-hosts The Unsellables, was arrested last month after a Toronto woman alleged he provided substandard renovation work.
He was initially charged with extortion, two counts of criminal harassment and attempted fraud under $5,000.
The extortion charge was withdrawn earlier and the remaining charges were dropped Tuesday.
Crown attorney Michael Callaghan asked Justice William Wolski to withdraw the charges, saying the prosecution "had no reasonable prospect of conviction.
"The test for the police (to justify the laying charges) is a reasonable and probable grounds. After careful analysis, we concluded there was no reasonable prospect of conviction so I am duty bound to withdraw the charges," Callaghan told Wolski.
| |
"My client has suffered a nightmare for six weeks but it is over," said Sayers' lawyer Brian Shiller, who announced his client's intention to sue police, saying there was "nothing" to the case against him.
"It was just outrageous. They were seeking to put him in custody over a dispute over $2,000, which the customer refused to pay," Shiller said Wednesday.
"There was no business for this case being in a criminal court," said Sayers' criminal lawyer, Karen McArthur.
"The Crown acted with the highest of integrity, but this type of investigative approach wasn't done 20 years ago.
"It's like Sayers was sentenced first, by being pilloried in the media, it is akin to being hung in the public square and then he gets investigated and then cleared."
Sayers was relieved the ordeal was over.
"The last six weeks of my life have been a nightmare. I am thankful that the justice system worked and confirmed that I am an innocent man," he said.
Shiller said the charges, announced by police in a media release, have severely damaged his client's reputation and resulted in lost revenue.
"We will defend the case and we will file a statement of defence in due course," Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash said.
"We had the papers served today and our response to their allegations will be contained in our statement of defence."
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment