New charges laid against convoy organizer Patrick King

Patrick King, the former Saultite who became a central figure in the recent trucker convoy protest in Ottawa, learned today that he's facing additional charges.

King was originally charged in February with four criminal charges related to the protests: mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to disobey a court order and counselling to obstruct police.

At a court hearing Thursday afternoon in Ottawa, King learned that he's now facing a total of 10 charges.

A Crown lawyer told the court that King is now a co-accused with another accused convoy organizer, Tyson George Billings, facing additional charges of disobeying a court order, intimidation (two counts), counselling intimidation, obstructing police (two counts).

Lawyer W. Calvin Rosemond, who has spoken on behalf of King at previous court appearances, said Thursday that he has not yet been formally retained to represent King.

"I'm not retained for this appearance so I'm not going to get into it," Rosemond said.

Rosemond nonetheless said that because of the new charge documents, King would probably be entitled to a new hearing to decide whether he must continue to remain in custody until his trial.

"It's not just a relay with a changed date and a couple of new details," he said. "It's a vastly different document."

The Crown disagrees and will argue that King is not entitled to a new bail hearing.

King was denied bail on Feb. 25.

King's next court date is April 4.