The following is a report about a bail hearing, which means the alleged facts discussed have not been proven in court.
A 40-year-old man accused of defrauding a Burnaby metalworking machinery company three-and-a-half years ago has been denied a ninth chance on bail because he keeps not showing up for court.
"Everything has been tried with this accused," Crown prosecutor Ronald Edwards told the court after listing the nine arrest warrants that have been put out for Manuel Schafer for not coming to court.
Schafer, who has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000 for allegedly defrauding Kaka Industrial at 2999 Underhill Ave. in Burnaby, was in Vancouver provincial court Thursday for a bail hearing.
He had been released eight different times before, and ordered to attend all his court dates in person, only to be arrested again for not showing up.
"This is, in the Crown's respectful submission, an affront to the administration of justice," Edwards said.
Edwards said Schafer should be kept in jail until the resolution of his case.
Defence lawyer Olivia Whynot, however, said Schafer should be released once more, this time on $25 bail. He had previously been released on a $500 promise to pay.
Whynot said Schafer does not have a criminal record but has struggled with homelessness, addiction and bad health.
In support of his release, Whynot said he had secured housing with a friend at a Vancouver SRO.
"Mr. Schafer has never had stable housing," she said.
But Edwards said he wasn't certain the housing proposed would be stable since Schafer's friend was not in court to answer questions because she was unwell.
Edwards also noted Schafer had had stable housing before in the form of a recovery house but had left and not reported to his bail supervisor, which violated his release conditions.
Whynot said the program at the recovery house "just didn't work for him."
At the end of the hearing, B.C. provincial court Judge Gregory Rideout denied Schafer's bail application, ruling it was necessary to keep him in jail to make sure he came to court.
Schafer’s next court date, to enter a plea to the fraud charge, is scheduled for Jan. 16.
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