Danny Cockerline

Rights not infringed by lengthy trial delay

According to the Toronto Star, Mr Justice Frank Callaghan decided David Coghlin was partly to blame for the delay because he failed to appear for trial last September.

Coghlin was earlier acquitted of a charge of obstructing police in the May 1981 incident that lead to the arrest. He still faces a second and more serious charge of common assault. Another man, Bruce, who was charged in the incident with creating a disturbance, has also been acquitted.

The charges were laid after the two men were picked up outside a donut shop at Bloor Street and Walmer Road for allegedly throwing coffee at a police cruiser. The men, one of whom was wearing a "No More Shit" button to protest the February 6 bath raids, say they were called faggots by the officers and taken to the station where they were separated, stripped, and questioned. They were not informed of the charges until after their release. (TBP, June 1981).