The mistrial for Trevor Birtch began, but what was supposed to be a 4-day trial turned into guilty pleas.
LONDON - What was set to be a four-day judge-alone trial ended with a pair of guilty pleas.
Trevor Birtch was supposed to be back on trial for a count of assault and a count of sexual assault, which happened back in 2021. Birtch was originally found guilty of the counts in 2024, but a mistrial was declared after evidence was not properly disclosed by the Crown. You can read about the original trial by clicking here.
DAY 2 (June 16th, 2026) - Sentencing Submissions/Sentencing Decision
There was some confusion to begin the day as Trevor Birtch was scheduled to be in court. Birtch was supposed to be in the courtroom, but an order was not processed. There were then some calls made to figure out which detention centre he was being held at to set up a virtual meeting for the proceedings. The court was able to get everything figured out, and the proceedings began shortly after 1:30 p.m.
Defense lawyer Shane Stroud began the day by saying there would be a joint sentencing submission between himself and the Crown. Stroud said the ask was for an 8-month sentence, which would run concurrently with the sentence of 4 years and 8 months that Birtch is already serving after another trial that took place, and he was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. Stroud also mentioned they would like probation of 18 months after he is out of custody.
Crown Prosecutor Artem Orlov echoed those conditions of the sentence, but also stated what he would like to see once Birtch was on probation. When Birtch is released and on probation, Orlov said he would like there to be orders in place, including for Birtch not to be in direct or indirect communication with the victim, for Birtch not to be within 25 meters of the victim, and for Birtch not to be within 50 meters of the victim's place of work, or anywhere he ought to know her to be.
Ending the day, Justice Marc Garson went into the reasons why he felt the sentencing in this matter was fair and justified. Justice Garson said there were mitigating factors, which included Birtch pleading guilty and not going back to trial, which saves time and having the victim go through the process all over again. He also said that pleading guilty shows some remorse. Justice Garson moved on to the aggravating factors, which were that the offences were a part of intimate partner violence, and that, besides the physical damage, there was also psychological trauma suffered by the victim. Justice Garson imposed a sentence of 4 months on the first count, which was assault, and another 4 months on the second count, which was the sexual assault. Justice Garson restated that this sentence will be concurrent with the sentence Birtch is already serving, which again is 4 years and 8 months.
DAY 1 (April 13th, 2026) - Birtch Pleads Guilty
Today, the proceedings began at 10:15 a.m. with the Crown Prosecutor, Artem Orlov, stating that there was the expectation of guilty pleas from Birtch and that he was going to read a summary of each count before the Court. The charges before the Court were a count of assault, which happened in July of 2021, as well as a count of sexual assault, which took place in February of 2021.
Orlov first talked about the incident in February, which happened at a hotel in London. He said Birtch had asked for sex, but the victim refused to have sex. After the refusal, Birtch began kicking, hitting, and eventually pulling the victim out of the bed by their hair. Orlov referenced a court case and said in that particular instance, the assault was sexual assault because sex was asked for, which Orlov said relates exactly to this particular instance with Birtch.
Orlov then mentioned what happened during the assault charge before the Court. He mentioned they took a drive through the countryside and were near Tavistock. It was on the way home that the victim needed to use the washroom, so Birtch pulled over on the side of the road. Birtch drove away and left the victim on the side of the road, but then eventually came back to get the victim. It was when Birtch dropped the victim off at their house that the assault took place, as Birtch grabbed the victim by the legs and arms and threw them out of the vehicle.
Defense Lawyer, Shayne Stroud, was asked if there were any objections to what the Crown had presented, to which he said there were none. At that point, the Court read out the charges before Birtch, and Birtch pleaded guilty to both.
There was a brief recess, as Superior Court Justice Marc Garson had to check his schedule to find a date that would work to start the sentencing process. Once the proceedings resumed, it was determined that this matter would return to Court on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 1:15 p.m.
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