By Canadian Press

Lawyer for father of murdered B.C. girl denies client brought gun to Ali verdict

Feb 2, 2024 | 2:44 PM

VANCOUVER — A lawyer representing the father of a murdered 13-year-old girl says the man did not bring a gun into a Vancouver courtroom eight weeks ago, on the day Ibrahim Ali was convicted of the killing.

Brock Martland, who represents the father, says it’s an “unfounded proposition” that has been repeated several times by Ali’s lawyers, who want to exclude the man from post-trial proceedings on safety grounds. 

Martland says he doesn’t dispute their fears but argues the man should be allowed to continue to listen in remotely to a translation of proceedings through a Mandarin court interpreter.

The man can’t be named because of a publication ban on the identity of his daughter, who was found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.

Ali’s trial lawyers, Kevin McCullough and Ben Lynskey, are refusing to show up to court for post-trial proceedings and have instead sent a colleague to argue their application to exclude the father.

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McCullough said in an interview last month that Victoria police told him the victim’s father brought a loaded Glock gun to court on Dec. 8 with an “intent to kill.”

Court documents show the father will appear at Surrey Provincial Court later this month about the disposal of items police seized from him on Dec. 9, the day after the verdict.

A spokeswoman for the BC Prosecution Service previously said the man also faced a “prohibition order.”

A “prohibition order” under the Criminal Code can refer to a ban on possessing a “firearm, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition and explosive substance.”

Ali, who appeared by video Friday, was convicted of first-degree murder. He is yet to be sentenced but faces a mandatory life term with no chance of parole for 25 years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press