An Ontario judge says it is “totally unacceptable” that Crown attorneys in Brampton allowed case files to go missing for over four months, contributing to charges being stayed against a man accused of a stabbing.

Kadeem Payne’s legal right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time was violated as actions taken by the Crown, and regular procedural delays, prolonged his case by over 19 months, Judge Paul Monahan ruled on July 27.

That was enough to put Payne’s case over the time limit guidelines established in a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year which has already resulted in dozens of criminal charges being stayed — effectively ending prosecutions without any decision of guilt or innocence.

Payne was arrested in Peel in September 2014 and charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, after he allegedly stabbed someone in the leg and hand with a knife, Monahan wrote in his decision.

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