Trial for alleged bikers postponed again

Vince Leonard Sr., Wayne Johnson and James Curran unsuccessfully applied three years ago for a dismissal of 2016 drug charges due to unreasonable delay

The trial of three accused Vikings Motorcycle Club members charged with drugs offences six years ago saw another unexpected delay Monday, Oct. 3.

The trial of Vince Leonard Sr., Wayne Johnson and James Curran had been scheduled to begin at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s, but the court heard of an unspecified issue with a Crown witness, putting a temporary halt to proceedings. The matter will be called in court again Thursday, Oct. 6.

Leonard, Johnson and Curran were among 10 people alleged to be members or associates of the Vikings and charged as part of Operation Bombard, after police executed search warrants at a handful of locations in St. John’s and Cupids. Police say they seized cocaine, oxycodone pills, temazepam pills and a powder that contained fentanyl, as well as eight motorcycles, two pickup trucks, cash, weapons, photos and Vikings vests as part of the investigation.

The three men are the last of the accused, by at least three years, to go to trial on the 2016 charges, which has been scheduled and postponed multiple times over the years due to scheduling issues, illness, lawyer changes and the COVID-19 lockdowns. Proceedings were postponed early in 2019 after the defence lawyers at that time successfully argued they didn’t have enough time to review the 60,000 pages they received the previous fall in order to build their case.

The most recent postponement happened earlier this year when a trial participant fell ill.

Leonard, Johnson and Curran had applied in the spring of 2019 for the court to dismiss the charges against them under the Jordan ruling, which gives superior courts 30 months to deal with criminal matters. The application was dismissed, with the judge finding the delays up to that point had not been unreasonable or foreseeable.