Chaos dominates early stages of feces dumper’s bail hearing

A woman stands outside Old City Hall, which functions as Toronto South Court, on Nov. 27. (Aidan Jonah, THE CANADA FILES)

Written by: Aidan Jonah

23 year-old Samuel Opoku’s bail hearing was adjourned until Dec. 3, after hours of delays caused by seating issues in the Toronto South Court on Wednesday.

Opoku was recently arrested and charged with five counts of assault with a weapon and mischief interfering with property.

He reportedly threw fecal matter at three separate victims; the first at the University of Toronto’s research library, the second at York University’s library, the third in the area of College Street and McCaul Street. His trial was scheduled to occur in courtroom 101, on Nov. 27 at 10 a.m.

Students from both universities attended en masse, with more than 40 people wanting to attend the bail hearing.

Felipe Santos, a recently graduated U of T student, said that before Opoku’s arrest “people were avoiding going to class and were afraid of travelling between classes.” He stated that any rumoured sightings would cause students to avoid large areas of the St. George campus, with the fear of being the next victim on their mind.

However, there was only seating room for 20 people, with no standing area available. This left dozens of people with only a small television screen to view the proceedings. Attendees were then required to clear the courtroom due to recording issues, and were not allowed to re-enter until 11 a.m.

By the time the hearing resumed, more than half of the original attendees had left the courthouse. The bail hearing was eventually adjourned until Dec. 3.

Ruth Masuka, a second-year U of T student, said that the attendance “showed the fear that students had during the epidemic.” She was disappointed about the repeated delays in beginning the bail hearing and felt that many students missed the chance “to see who did this face-to-face and get answers.”

When asked for comment via email, a University of Toronto spokesperson said that they have increased campus police patrols since the incident. “As a public university, many parts of our campuses are open to the general public, and we see hundreds of visitors every day. What has happened is shocking, and we are providing assistance to those affected.”