Former mayor facing sentencing for sex assaults given time to find lawyer
Trevor Birtch was granted an adjournment of his sentencing hearing for convictions stemming from his second sexual assault trial
Author of the article:Jane Sims
Published Aug 15, 2025 • 4 minute read
Trevor Birtch’s complicated personal life has evolved into a tangled web of legal delays, adjournments, mistrials and unexpected twists through the criminal justice system.
The disgraced former mayor of Woodstock was back in a London courtroom Friday afternoon on his own where he was granted an adjournment of his sentencing hearing for convictions stemming from his second sexual assault trial that began almost a year ago.
Birtch, 50, was given more time by Superior Court Justice Spencer Nicholson to continue his search for a new defence lawyer after James Battin, his counsel for his four criminal cases, was ordered disbarred by the Law Society of Ontario in May over legal aid payment issues.
The need for a defence lawyer is urgent in the case, especially after assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred indicated to Nicholson that she would be seeking a prison term for the two sexual assault convictions.
“Given that we are seeking a significant penitentiary term in this matter, and I appreciate the events have unfolded in an unexpected way for Mr. Birtch, we have absolutely no issue with the request for an adjournment today,” she said.
But that’s just one of his cases. A flow chart is almost necessary to track and understand Birtch’s long and complex trek through the courts.
Birtch was first charged in February 2022 when he was still mayor of Woodstock and after ending a relationship with a 45-year-old woman that began in April 2020 and ended in December 2021.
His trial into those matters was the first to heard last year and ended with Superior Court Justice Michael Carnegie convicting him of one count of assault and one count of sexual assault.
The woman told the court about Birtch trying to force her into performing a specific sex act when they were on a Valentine’s Day getaway to a London hotel in 2021. The assault conviction was related to a drive in the country and beach day when the woman was pushed out of the car after refusing sexual activity with Birtch.
He was charged again with more sexual assault counts in the spring of 2022 involving a 39-year-old woman who had a history of addiction and health issues – and was also part of Birtch’s bizarre and violent personal life starting in 2017 until 2021.
Those charges were tried last fall and ended with Nicholson’s decision in January where he convicted Birtch of two counts of sexual assault and called Birtch “an obvious liar.”
The victim testified that she had several unwanted sexual encounters with Birtch, often when both of them had consumed large quantities of drugs and alcohol supplied by Birtch. It was during her testimony that she said Birtch would snort cocaine while off-camera during online city council meetings.
Birtch claimed that the coin bags of white powder were crushed-up over-the-counter pain medication for a bum shoulder. Nicholson found the explanation “totally unbelievable” and also flatly rejected Birtch’s suggestion that all the charges were part of a female-led conspiracy to humiliate him.
However, after the second trial, Birtch sought and was granted a mistrial by Carnegie in December on the first set of convictions because potential evidence for that case from a key witness at the second trial emerged during her testimony and was not disclosed by the Crown for the first trial.
After all of those charges were laid, Birtch sought re-election in the fall of 2022 and was pummelled at the polls.
But before the sexual assault cases ever made it to court, there were more charges on October 30, 2023, when Birtch was charged with impaired driving after he was in a two-vehicle crash west of Woodstock. Birtch pleaded guilty in Woodstock in February to having more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood and was dealt a 90-day conditional sentence, a year of probation and a 12-month driving suspension.
An hour before the crash, Birtch was in London, where he was charged with two counts of assault and one count of unlawful entry involving yet another woman. Birtch was arrested after an alleged confrontation at a London home where the woman was staying where a witness testified he saw Birtch slap her in the face, then have a tussle with the witness when he told Birtch to leave.
An Ontario Court of Justice trial in London on those matters began in February, but was adjourned at the request of the defence, once the Crown closed its case after one witness. The woman was expected to be called to testify by the defence at a later date.
Three months later, Battin was disbarred and Justice Jason Miller later declared a mistrial on those matters in June. Birtch was in the Ontario Court on Thursday where the case was put over to Sept. 4 to give him more time to find a defence lawyer.
And that was the same predicament on Friday when Birtch was in front of Nicholson without a lawyer.
There was yet another twist. Before her judicial appointment was announced earlier this week, Superior Court Justice Jennifer Moser, who is slated to be sworn-in at the end of the month, was the prosecutor for the case and was required to turn over the sentencing to Mildred.
Birtch told Nicholson that he has had “a couple of consultations with different lawyers. But the summer scheduling issues, the size of the file and “the size of the retainers required” have pushed him to seek out “a few more.”
Any lawyer he has spoken to so far asked for a two- to three-month adjournment to review the case.
Nicholson said it was “a very unique situation” and agreed that the case go over to Sept. 19 for an update about Birtch’s search for a defence lawyer.
jsims@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Trevor Birtch was granted an adjournment of his sentencing hearing for convictions stemming from his second sexual assault trial
Author of the article:Jane Sims
Published Aug 15, 2025 • 4 minute read
Trevor Birtch’s complicated personal life has evolved into a tangled web of legal delays, adjournments, mistrials and unexpected twists through the criminal justice system.
The disgraced former mayor of Woodstock was back in a London courtroom Friday afternoon on his own where he was granted an adjournment of his sentencing hearing for convictions stemming from his second sexual assault trial that began almost a year ago.
Birtch, 50, was given more time by Superior Court Justice Spencer Nicholson to continue his search for a new defence lawyer after James Battin, his counsel for his four criminal cases, was ordered disbarred by the Law Society of Ontario in May over legal aid payment issues.
The need for a defence lawyer is urgent in the case, especially after assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred indicated to Nicholson that she would be seeking a prison term for the two sexual assault convictions.
“Given that we are seeking a significant penitentiary term in this matter, and I appreciate the events have unfolded in an unexpected way for Mr. Birtch, we have absolutely no issue with the request for an adjournment today,” she said.
But that’s just one of his cases. A flow chart is almost necessary to track and understand Birtch’s long and complex trek through the courts.
Birtch was first charged in February 2022 when he was still mayor of Woodstock and after ending a relationship with a 45-year-old woman that began in April 2020 and ended in December 2021.
His trial into those matters was the first to heard last year and ended with Superior Court Justice Michael Carnegie convicting him of one count of assault and one count of sexual assault.
The woman told the court about Birtch trying to force her into performing a specific sex act when they were on a Valentine’s Day getaway to a London hotel in 2021. The assault conviction was related to a drive in the country and beach day when the woman was pushed out of the car after refusing sexual activity with Birtch.
He was charged again with more sexual assault counts in the spring of 2022 involving a 39-year-old woman who had a history of addiction and health issues – and was also part of Birtch’s bizarre and violent personal life starting in 2017 until 2021.
Those charges were tried last fall and ended with Nicholson’s decision in January where he convicted Birtch of two counts of sexual assault and called Birtch “an obvious liar.”
The victim testified that she had several unwanted sexual encounters with Birtch, often when both of them had consumed large quantities of drugs and alcohol supplied by Birtch. It was during her testimony that she said Birtch would snort cocaine while off-camera during online city council meetings.
Birtch claimed that the coin bags of white powder were crushed-up over-the-counter pain medication for a bum shoulder. Nicholson found the explanation “totally unbelievable” and also flatly rejected Birtch’s suggestion that all the charges were part of a female-led conspiracy to humiliate him.
However, after the second trial, Birtch sought and was granted a mistrial by Carnegie in December on the first set of convictions because potential evidence for that case from a key witness at the second trial emerged during her testimony and was not disclosed by the Crown for the first trial.
After all of those charges were laid, Birtch sought re-election in the fall of 2022 and was pummelled at the polls.
But before the sexual assault cases ever made it to court, there were more charges on October 30, 2023, when Birtch was charged with impaired driving after he was in a two-vehicle crash west of Woodstock. Birtch pleaded guilty in Woodstock in February to having more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood and was dealt a 90-day conditional sentence, a year of probation and a 12-month driving suspension.
An hour before the crash, Birtch was in London, where he was charged with two counts of assault and one count of unlawful entry involving yet another woman. Birtch was arrested after an alleged confrontation at a London home where the woman was staying where a witness testified he saw Birtch slap her in the face, then have a tussle with the witness when he told Birtch to leave.
An Ontario Court of Justice trial in London on those matters began in February, but was adjourned at the request of the defence, once the Crown closed its case after one witness. The woman was expected to be called to testify by the defence at a later date.
Three months later, Battin was disbarred and Justice Jason Miller later declared a mistrial on those matters in June. Birtch was in the Ontario Court on Thursday where the case was put over to Sept. 4 to give him more time to find a defence lawyer.
And that was the same predicament on Friday when Birtch was in front of Nicholson without a lawyer.
There was yet another twist. Before her judicial appointment was announced earlier this week, Superior Court Justice Jennifer Moser, who is slated to be sworn-in at the end of the month, was the prosecutor for the case and was required to turn over the sentencing to Mildred.
Birtch told Nicholson that he has had “a couple of consultations with different lawyers. But the summer scheduling issues, the size of the file and “the size of the retainers required” have pushed him to seek out “a few more.”
Any lawyer he has spoken to so far asked for a two- to three-month adjournment to review the case.
Nicholson said it was “a very unique situation” and agreed that the case go over to Sept. 19 for an update about Birtch’s search for a defence lawyer.
jsims@postmedia.com
Former mayor facing sentencing for sex assaults given time to find lawyer
Trevor Birtch was granted an adjournment of his sentencing hearing for convictions stemming from his second sexual assault trial