CORNER BROOK — A Grand Falls-Windsor man missed a provincial court appearance in Corner Brook on Tuesday. That’s likely because he’s currently in custody for his alleged part in a home invasion in his hometown last weekend.
Brian Thomas Grech, 24, has five charges against him in the Corner Brook court — possession of a controlled drug or substance, possession of property obtained by crime and three counts of failure to comply with a probation order.
The charges were laid by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at or near Deer Lake in November 2011. Grech is alleged to have been in possession of cocaine and a white Dodge van. The probation breaches refer to orders put in place by the provincial court in Grand Falls-Windsor in March and April of 2011.
When Grech’s matter was called Tuesday, legal-aid lawyer Sandi MacKinnon told Judge Catherine Allen-Westby that her client was not present and that she had some difficulty in tracking him down. MacKinnon said she determined Grech was in Grand Falls-Windsor, but she had no instructions from him on how to proceed.
MacKinnon told the judge that she had asked for a sentencing proposal from the Crown, however, but had yet to receive any information from them.
Provincial Crown attorney Lori St. Croix responded that Grech had entered not guilty pleas to the charges back in June, and she understood the purpose of Tuesday’s appearance was to set a trial date. MacKinnon said she had asked for early resolution to the charges three times, and wanted to find out what the Crown would be seeking before proceeding.
Federal Crown attorney Andrew May, who is prosecuting the drug charge against Grech, said there was no request on sentencing in his file, but that he could provide it fairly quickly.
Allen-Westby eventually set the matter over to Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Grech will appear in provincial court in Grand Falls-Windsor today for a bail hearing on charges related to the home invasion.
He’s charged with two counts of assault with a weapon and single counts of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, being unlawfully in a dwelling house and breach of recognizance.
Grech is also currently on trial for allegedly stabbing a man from Bishop’s Falls in Grand Falls-Windsor in November 2011.
