JUDGE DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST BACON

Abbotsford provincial court Judge Donald Gardiner dismissed evidence
against Jonathan Bacon and two others Friday morning, saying that the
Abbotsford Police did not have the grounds for the search warrant that
led them to a cache of guns and drugs.

Bacon, 27, Rayleene Burton and Godwin Cheng faced up to 15 charges
each of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons. The
charges against all three were thrown out.

On Aug. 25, 2005, the Abbotsford Police searched an Abbotsford
townhouse where they seized two handguns, two machines guns, two
silencers, body armour, cocaine, ecstacy, pot and nearly $100,000 in
cash. They said it was one of their largest drug busts at the time.

However, Gardiner said that to allow the evidence against Bacon,
Burton and Cheng would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

With a heavy security presence at the Abbotsford courthouse Friday,
which included searches of those entering, the three co-accused
hurried out of the building after the ruling, refusing to talk to
media. Abbotsford Police Const. Casey Vinet said the APD is "very
disappointed" in the verdict and it will carefully review the reasons
for judgment.

Bacon's two younger brothers, Jamie Kyle Bacon and Jarrod Wayne Bacon,
were arrested in Burnaby on May 31 on 30 firearms offenses, including
the possession of an assault rifle.

After their arrest, the Integrated Gang Task Force issued a public
warning to friends and associates of the brothers, saying that
"association with these individuals may place them in a position of
jeopardy."

As a result the brothers' father David Bacon is on paid adminstrative
leave until from his employer, the Abbotsford School District, until
the end of the school year, said board of education chairwoman Cindy
Schafer. "Both parties it agreed it would be the most prudent thing to
do," said Schafer on Friday.