First Verdict In "Toronto 18" Terror Group -- Guilty

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Today's verdict is seen as a major win for the prosecution after seven other accused had charges against them stayed.

Justice Sproat handed down his verdict by saying that there was "overwhelming" evidence that a terrorist group did in fact exist and even though the youth was considered to be a minor participant and may not have had direct knowledge of a specific terrorist attack, "[The youth] was aware of the political, religious and ideological motivations of the group and its terrorist intentions".

It was alleged by the prosecution that the group the youth belonged to had tried to buy weapons and that they had conspired to blow up truck bombs, using three-tonnes of fake ammonium nitrate. That amount of ammonium nitrate is three times more than what was used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing that killed 168 people.

An RCMP informant, Mubin Shaikh, had been paid $350,000 to infiltrate the group and was the Crown's chief witness. However in his testimony for this case, Mr. Shaikh said that he believed that the accused youth was not a terrorist and did not know the details of any murderous plans that the group had. This follows the revelation that the alleged leader of the group had suggested that the accused youth would be an "ideal candidate" to be the one who would behead the prime minister when the group launched their raid on the Parliament Building.

Justice Sproat had this to say, in his 94-page ruling:

It occurred to me hearing this submission that it might well have been said prior to ‘September 11, 2001 that a plan to kill thousands and destroy landmark buildings in lower Manhattan and Washington had no possibility of implementation.

While I'm not comparing [the two alleged leaders] to the architects of the September 11 attacks, I do reject the argument that planning and working toward ultimate goals that appear unattainable, or even objectively unrealistic, precludes or even militates against a finding that this was a terrorist group.

There are still 10 accused left to try, but the verdict in this case will be a major boost to the prosecution.