Another accused killer in Quebec to be released due to Crown delays

Another person charged with murder in Quebec is set to be released due to unreasonable legal delays. (Photo by original author: René Bélanger, modifications: Nonztop [CC0])

A judge stayed the second-degree murder proceedings against Van Son Nguyen on Friday after he ruled delays in his trial violated a 2016 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The country’s highest court ruled legal proceedings cannot exceed 18 months in provincial courts and 30 months in Superior Court in order to respect a citizen’s right to be tried within a reasonable period of time.

Nguyen, 52, is a U.K. citizen and was still awaiting trial 55 months after being charged.

He was charged with allegedly stabbing a man 34 times with a machete in a home that housed an illegal marijuana grow-op.

Nguyen is not a Canadian citizen and can therefore be deported to Britain rather than be released in Canada.

Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingam, a refugee from Sri Lanka who was charged with murdering his wife, recently had his proceedings stayed after the Quebec court system took too long to try him.