Falsely accused G20 bomber Byron Sonne walks free from trumped up charges

Byron Sonne not guilty on G20 explosives charges
15 May, 2102 – The Star – Brendan Kennedy

Byron Sonne, the so-called “G20 geek” accused of plotting to bomb the 2010 summit of world leaders in downtown Toronto two years ago, was found not guilty Tuesday of all charges.

Sonne’s verdict comes nearly two years after the 39-year-old Internet security expert was arrested on June 22, 2010, as the first high-profile detention of the chaotic G20 weekend.

After Justice Nancy Spies delivered her final verdict and left the University Ave. courtroom, the body of the court, filled with friends and supporters of Sonne, erupted in clapping and cheers.

Sonne shook hands with defence lawyers Joe Di Luca and Peter Copeland, pumped his fist and then made a beeline to his teary-eyed mother in the second row. He hugged both his parents, who had attended every hearing throughout the case.

Of all the G20 accused, the computer hacker from Forest Hill seemed the least likely to be a terrorist when he was pulled off a Bathurst St. bus and accused of assembling explosives in his basement laboratory while inciting others through social media to disrupt the G20 security apparatus.

He was first charged with six offences, including mischief, weapons possession and intimidating justice officials. But by the time the case reached trial, most of the charges were dropped and Sonne was left with four counts of possessing explosive materials and one count of “counseling the commission of mischief not committed.”

Sonne’s wife, Kristen Peterson, was arrested two days after her husband but was released after spending two nights in jail and eventually had all the charges against her dropped. Peterson cut off all contact with Sonne after his arrest, and the couple divorced in December.

Sonne, who had no criminal record, spent 330 days in pre-trial custody and was twice denied bail before he was released last May.

Although Sonne had not assembled any explosive devices and police found neither bomb-making plans nor a detonator, the Crown argued that the fact he possessed the ingredients to build a bomb and was criticizing the G20 through his Twitter and Flickr accounts showed he had the motive to violently disturb the summit.

Sonne, a hobby chemist, admitted to having materials that could be made into an explosive, but said he hadn’t combined them and hadn’t intended to. …more