The federal prosecution service uses statements from open courtrooms to write and compile memos detailing allegations of serious police misconduct, but is withholding many of the records from the public.
TORONTO An Ontario Superior Court justice is now deciding the fate of one of the men alleged to be among the suspects in a series of bank and pharmacy robberies in Toronto, a group police described as the “SKS Bandits” because of a unique Russian rifle that was their calling card. Surveillance video played at the trial of Ivan David Lira shows two balaclava-clad men bursting into six banks and pharmacies from Agincourt to the West End of Toronto, armed with something tellers said looked like a machine gun. And the similarities between guns in each of the six heists should be enough to connect the robberies to the gun seized by police, Crown Attorney Kasia Batorska told the court.