Officer Greg Hoffman

A young person was charged with ten firearms offences arising from live-streamed videos on Instagram on August 31, 2019.

The Crown proceeded on three counts: possession of a restricted firearm without a license (s. 91), careless use of a firearm (s. 86), and pointing a firearm (s. 88).

The court admitted edited police recordings of the live streams but rejected the detective's recognition evidence due to credibility concerns regarding a bail compliance check.

The court found the accused's identity on the videos through independent review but could not establish possession of the firearm beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Crown failed to prove the accused was at the location where the videos were filmed and could not establish that the object briefly held by the accused was the same firearm seized the next day.

The court acquitted on all three counts.

The accused faced multiple charges relating to drug and firearms trafficking arising from a major police investigation involving wiretaps and surveillance.

The court found the primary target guilty of all charges based on overwhelming intercept and surveillance evidence.

Another accused was found guilty of purchasing a firearm and trafficking marijuana.

However, charges against two other accused were dismissed due to insufficient voice identification evidence and the legal principle that a mere purchaser in a bilateral transaction is not guilty of conspiracy.