Peter Edwards
Staff Reporter

A man sought by police for attempted murder was set free three months ago by a judge irate over the province’s overloaded court system.

York Regional police are urging Davood Zarinchang, 25, of Markham, to surrender to face charges relating to a violent home invasion in Richmond Hill on Jan. 27.

A warrant was issued for Zarinchang after two men with handguns entered a home in the Bayview Ave. and Elgin Mills Rd. area, demanding money from the victims.

One of the residents was shot in the leg, while two others were not hurt.

Zarinchang was released from custody in October while facing four charges of assault, three for threatening and two mischief charges related to a domestic assault.

He wasn’t tried on those charges because a judge ruled he should have been given a bail hearing within 24 hours of his arrest, instead of 24 days later.

“The serious nature of this matter can only be remedied by the most significant remedy available – that being a stay of the charges,” Mr. Justice Howard Chisvin of the Superior Court of Ontario said at the time.

The judge also ordered the Crown to pay Zarinchang’s legal costs as a penalty for its “lackadaisical attitude.”