Bail hearing dates set for some teens charged in death of Toronto homeless man

Seven of the eight teenaged girls accused in a downtown murder which Toronto police described as a swarming were back in court ahead of scheduling bail hearings, as one of the eight remains free on bail ahead of trial.

The girls, who are between 13 and 16 years old, appeared from detention centres via video conference.

Their identities are not being released due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Police have said that three 13-year-olds, three 14-year-olds, and two 16-year-olds allegedly swarmed and stabbed a 59-year-old man near Union Station in mid-December.

Once again, only two parents of the seven co-accused appeared to be in attendance for virtual proceedings on Zoom.

Some of the teenaged girls appeared confused on the state of proceedings when asked by a justice of the peace if they understood what was happening. One lawyer was inexplicably absent from proceedings when their client was before the justice of the peace.

Scheduling individual bail hearings for seven co-accused in a timely manner was not easy for all parties, with several cases being remanded to Jan. 25 while Crown and defense attorneys continued to discuss potential dates.

Two of the seven now have bail hearing dates set for later this month, on Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.

One of the eight teenagers was released Dec. 29 on several conditions, including that they remain housebound in the care of their surety except for attending school, not use the internet or use a cellphone, and that they have no contact with the co-accused.

A judge will present her reasons for granting bail to the teen in court on Jan. 10.

With files from the Canadian Press