Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s sentencing delayed again, now set for Sept. 9

TORONTO — The long-delayed sentencing for former fashion tycoon Peter Nygard was postponed once again after prosecutors asked that it be adjourned to early September.

Nygard, 83, was set to be sentenced for his sexual assault convictions in a Toronto courtroom Friday morning, but instead appeared via video link from his detention centre bed as the judge and lawyers briefly discussed the postponement over Zoom.

Court heard that prosecutors sought the adjournment because one of the Crown attorneys, Neville Golwalla, is currently out of the country and wants to be present for the sentencing.

Crown attorney Ana Serban also said the presiding judge is not available for the rest of August.

Nygard’s lawyer, Gerri Wiebe, did not oppose the Crown’s request and the sentencing was rescheduled to Sept. 9.

“And I have to say, it will happen at that point,” Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein said.

The sentencing process had already been pushed back several times since Nygard was convicted last November on four counts of sexual assault.

The previous delays were in part due to Nygard’s difficulties in obtaining and retaining legal counsel.

Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan, who represented Nygard during the course of the trial, said the relationship with his client had turned “adversarial” as he withdrew from the case early this year.

Nygard later retained lawyer Megan Savard, but she too resigned from the case.

Nygard has also faced multiple health challenges throughout the trial and the sentencing process, court has heard, although the Crown has suggested that he has been “leaning into his medical needs” in order to delay the sentencing.

Wiebe, his latest lawyer, told Nygard’s sentencing hearing last week that a lengthy prison sentence would be “crushing” for her client, who has Type 2 diabetes, deteriorating vision, claustrophobia and other health issues.

She argued for a six-year sentence, while prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 15 years.

Both defence and Crown had asked the court to give Nygard credit for each of the more than 1,000 days he has spent in custody so far, but prosecutors said that credit should be calculated on a one-to-one basis, rather than 1.5.

Nygard, who once helmed a successful women’s fashion company, has been in custody since his arrest on sex assault charges in Toronto in October 2021.

The charges stemmed from allegations dating from the 1980s until the mid-2000s, as multiple women accused Nygard of sexually assaulting them at his company’s headquarters.

Nygard was ultimately convicted of four counts of sexual assault but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one of forcible confinement.

He also faces charges in Manitoba and Quebec and is awaiting extradition to the United States.

He was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after he was charged with nine counts in New York, including sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

The charges against Nygard in those other jurisdictions have not been tested in court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.

Sonja Puzic, The Canadian Press