‘Society crasher’ cleared of assault

James Regan still faces three fraud charges

James Regan, the man who allegedly talked his way into Toronto’s high society — using private clubs, cars and luxury apartments all without paying — was cleared of assaulting his former landlord.

An Ontario Court judge acquitted Regan of the assault charge in September after finding inconsistencies in witness testimony. Now, Regan’s lawyer is on a campaign to rehabilitate his client’s image. “Mr. Regan, although a man with an awful reputation, is not a danger to anyone,” the lawyer, Michael Fairney, wrote in a letter to the National Post.

Since 2016, Regan — a bespectacled older gentleman with fine white hair — has been beset by multiple news reports detailing allegations of deception that spanned more than a decade. Landlords claimed he owed them tens of thousands in rent arrears. Private clubs banned him, as did the Air Canada Centre after Regan allegedly approached players and executives with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the National Post reported in an October 2016 feature, “The Society Crasher.”

In September 2016, Regan’s former landlady Lucy Chik said she saw a report about him on CBC. She said she went to warn his current landlord, only to find Regan entering his apartment at a house in a posh neighbourhood on Avenue Road. When she confronted him about the money he owed her, she said Regan punched and kicked her.

Regan was charged with assault in November. While initially granted bail, he was jailed after he was twice accused of breaching the conditions of his bail that forbade him from making contact with both his former and current landlord — both of whom were called as witnesses.

At trial in September, Judge Ford Clements found issues with the testimony of two witnesses called by the Crown.

One inconsistency, he said, was Chik’s claim that after she was assaulted, Regan entered his apartment and she pursued, banging on the door. But a witness, Robin Ennis, said she heard a scream and looked to find Chik on the ground, not at the door.

Regan is still facing three charges for allegedly defrauding three landlords, including Chik and Ennis, between 2014 and 2016.

MR. REGAN, ALTHOUGH A MAN WITH AN AWFUL REPUTATION, IS NOT A DANGER TO ANYONE.