Ajax teen charged in fatal crash released on bail
Tue Nov 20, 2007

By: By Keith Gilligan

AJAX -- A 14-year-old Ajax boy facing criminal charges in a car crash that claimed the lives of two friends has been released on $10,000 bail.

The youth, who by law cannot be named because of his age, was released into the custody of his father following a bail hearing Tuesday in Oshawa. Crown counsel Lori Anne Turner, who consented to the terms of release, indicated the youth will be living under virtual house arrest as he awaits his day in court.

The boy faces two counts of criminal negligence causing death following the Sunday morning crash on Audley Road which claimed the lives of two 15-year-old schoolmates. He had been in custody since being treated and released from hospital Sunday.

The youth shuffled into court Tuesday dressed in grey sweats and sat hunched forward for much of the hearing, his chin resting in his hand. He occasionally winced and rubbed his left shoulder.

Among the terms of his bail are that he not leave his home unless in the company of his father or other court-approved chaperones, or to attend school during the day. He is prohibited from driving and is not allowed to sit in the front seat of any vehicle. He is also not to be in a vehicle with anyone other than his father or another approved person.

The youth has also been ordered to surrender his passport.

The bail hearing was held Tuesday following the highly-publicized crash. Questions have been raised about a 14-year-old driving, and the fact that he apparently owns the car involved in the crash.

A publication ban was placed on evidence presented during the hearing.

Meanwhile, students at the Islamic school in north Ajax attended by the three boys are “in shock.”

The deceased are from Etobicoke, and Laval, a suburb of Montreal.

Atif Din, an administrator at the Jaamiah Al Uloom Al Islamiyyah Ontario school on Audley Road North, says students “of course are in shock.

“We were counselling them personally (Sunday),” he said. “We had two services for the deceased. We’re consoling them.”

The accident happened on Sunday, about 10 a.m., when a car travelling south at a high rate of speed left the road, crashed through a fence and rolled several times. One of the deceased was ejected from the vehicle while the other was pinned inside the car.

The car ended up in a field of the Ajax Riding Academy, south of the school.

Melvyn Croft, operations manager of the academy with his girlfriend Sylvia Dietrich, says the driver “must have been going at a high rate of speed. He landed 200 or 300 feet in the field.

“It’s unfortunate this is happening. They do come down here pretty fast,” Mr. Croft adds.

This is the first time such a thing has happened at the site, he says.

“A few people from the school came down to look around,” he states. “The police were keeping everyone well back.”

Audley was closed from Taunton to the Deer Creek golf course, he says.

He had horses out in the field where the car landed, but they weren’t injured.

“We had five horses at the other end of the paddock (field). My girlfriend bugged me to put out a pail of hay. It’s a good thing I didn’t or there would have been horses there,” where the car went through the fence, Mr. Croft says.

The families of the deceased have been contacted and “they are in shock,” Mr. Din says.

The driver is a day student who came to the school each morning and went home in the evening, Mr. Din states.

“He got the car and picked up his friends. All three left the property and crashed a few kilometres from the school on Audley Road,” he says.

“We have a very strict policy on leaving the property. They have to get written consent from their father. It’s not even allowed a phone call. It has to be in writing from their father. Unfortunately in this case, it was different,” Mr. Din says.

“We’re still in the consoling stage,” Mr. Din adds. “The next time, if this happens again, the student could be expelled without credits.

“There’s nothing more we can do (that) we’re already doing,” he adds. “The most we can do is remind everyone again this is the rule.”

Mr. Din adds the school acts as the “guardian” of the students. “We have to be extra cautious. It has been the strictest rule. It still is.”

The Laval youth had been at the school for “more than four years. He had an attachment to pretty much everything. He’ll be missed greatly,” Mr. Din notes, adding both youth had hoped to “become an Islamic scholar.”

In addition to Islamic instruction, the school also offers “secular education here,” Mr. Din says.

He says this is the first time such an incident has happened since the school opened in 1991. There are about 80 students attending, ranging in age from 11 to 20. About half are boarders and the other half are day students.

The youth from Etobicoke had been at the school for about four or five months, he says.

Students come from “all over North America and some from overseas,” says Abdul Waheed.

Funeral services were to be held Monday at the local mosques of both boys.

Durham Regional Police were at the school at about 11 a.m. on Sunday, Mr. Din says.

“A supervisor noticed the site of the accident before the police came. He didn’t know whose car it was,” he adds.

On Monday, the family of the 14-year-old said outside court that the boy has a broken shoulder, broken ribs and a sore neck.

The 20-year-old brother of the accused said the family saw the boy at the police station in Oshawa yesterday. The brother said the boy complained about his injuries, saying he was in a lot of pain and was still in a hospital gown and had no shoes.