Judge denies Tuxedo family's request to end embarrassing and disruptive police curfew checks

A Winnipeg couple living in the affluent Tuxedo neighbourhood learned that the criminal justice system applies equally to all those accused and out on bail despite their family's financial circumstances.

A 21-year-old man accused of multiple offences, including manufacturing 3D-printed guns, applied for a bail review in Manitoba's Court of King's Bench. In support of their son, his parents filed affidavits on Aug. 10 in which they asked that police curfew checks on their son be dropped because they are disruptive and embarrassing.

Daniel Bell, 21, is charged with numerous offences, including manufacturing 3D-printed guns and possessing firearms and body armour without a licence.

Bell is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. His parents said in an affidavit they have been told it could take at least 18 months for their son's case to work its way through the courts.

Bell was arrested in June and spent nine days in remand before being let out on bail. His parents, who are his sureties, put up half a million dollars to secure his release. They also paid $10,000 cash and say Bell put up another $50,000.

"That alone was a great punishment for a decent and good middle-class young man with no prior offences, but since being released on bail to live with us, Daniel has been repeatedly traumatized by curfew checks at our home day and night," wrote Bell's father in an affidavit to the court.

At a bail review hearing on Aug. 21, the Crown argued the family was attempting to use their privilege to request a "different level of justice," and the judge agreed.

"The fact that he's gotten bail in my view is quite remarkable," said Justice Herbert Rempel.

As part of his release, Bell has an absolute curfew, meaning he must be home at all times. He's only allowed to leave while accompanied by one or both of his parents, unless he's at work or university. He must answer the door or phone when police conduct curfew checks.

The family says since Bell was released on bail, police have showed up at their home 22 times over a period of 53 days. On some of those occasions, police knocked on their door in the middle of the night while they were asleep.

"We have never experienced anything as terrifying, and it has had a terrible effect on all of us. My husband and Daniel work, and it is so unfair for them not to get a proper night's sleep," wrote Bell's mother in her affidavit.

The family says police have come to their home in the middle of the night, shining flashlights in their windows and banging on the door. 

"This is an extreme violation of our human rights, and it is cruel and abusive," the father wrote in his affidavit, adding the police actions amounted to being "terrorized."

Justice Rempel said if this case had been heard in his court, he would have denied Bell's release in the first place.