Ontario court not reviewing decision to deny Peter Nygard bail after ‘weak’ appeal

TORONTO – An Ontario court says it sees no reason to review a decision to deny Peter Nygard bail while the former fashion mogul appeals his sexual assault convictions and sentence.

In a ruling released Friday, a Court of Appeal for Ontario judge said the judge who dismissed Nygard’s bail application last month made no arguable errors in assessing his case.

Nygard’s lawyers had argued the motions judge “unfairly discounted” the value of a new medical report and “failed to appreciate” the arrangement that Nygard was proposing for his release on bail.

They also argued the motions judge failed to appreciate the strength of one of the grounds for appeal related to the admission of expert testimony on the effects of trauma.

The motions judge who heard Nygard’s application found his appeal appeared to be “weak” and that he had a greater incentive to flee since he faces charges in other jurisdictions.

The 83-year-old Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault last year after multiple women came forward with allegations dating from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. His prison sentence amounts to a little less than seven years, after credit for the time he already spent in custody before and during trial.

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