2ND GANG-RELATED RELEASE ON BAIL SPARKS CONCERN

Police And Crown Cite Fears For Public Safety

Judge Defends Role As Protector Of Civil Liberties

Warning that judges should not bend principles to public pressure,
Justice Anne Molloy has rescinded custody for a second man charged in
Toronto's biggest anti-gang offensive.

Even "in the face of public vitriol, judges must be careful to be
guardians" of our civil liberties, she said.

Yesterday, Molloy released Leighton Bonnick, 27, on $55,000 bail and
house arrest to be overseen round the clock by his mother and aunt. A
justice of the peace had earlier denied him bail.

Although the public is rightly worried about drugs, guns and gangs,
Molloy said there is no such specific concern about Bonnick that
releasing him would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

He faces seven charges, including four for drugs, one for gun
possession and one gang-related offence.

Molloy made her comments in the face of criticism earlier this week
of her July 14 decision to grant bail to Steven Lucas, 27, who is
charged with 100 firearms and drug counts in the same May sweep that
caught Bonnick, part of Toronto police's Project XXX.

Police said Lucas was a key player in a west-end gun-smuggling
pipeline. Police Chief Bill Blair called his release a disappointing setback.

Yesterday Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash noted that Bonnick
faces fewer charges than Lucas. "I am not sure the two can be looked
at in the same way," he said.

"I think our concerns are public safety." Police have re-arrested too
many people released on bail despite violent offences, he added.

Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the attorney-general's ministry,
said the Crown is ordering a transcript of Molloy's Bonnick decision
and will review it to see whether there are grounds for appeal.

Molloy said that Bonnick, who has a record for gun and drugs charges
and failing to comply with court orders, is a poor bail risk and is
likely to continue his life of crime if not adequately supervised.

She ordered that police be empowered to knock on Bonnick's door any
time of the day or night and demand that he, plus either his aunt or
mother, present themselves.

Provincial Opposition Leader John Tory said Molloy confused him by
saying on the one hand that Bonnick is likely to reoffend and on the
other hand releasing him. "Sometimes I don't get these judges," he said.