Peter Nygard trial: Crown suggests inconsistent statements made

As part of the second day of cross-examination, the Crown suggested there were a number of inconsistencies between the testimony of Peter Nygard delivered to a Toronto courtroom last week and the account he gave to police during an 11-hour interview years ago.

The 82-year-old founder of Nygard International has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in connection with alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s. Multiple complainants in the trial have alleged they were taken to Nygard's Toronto headquarters, under pretenses ranging from tours to job interviews, and allegedly sexually assaulted by the businessman.

During Wednesday’s cross-examination, Crown lawyer Neville Golwalla noted several inconsistencies between Nygard’s initial 11-hour police interview conducted in October 2021, and his testimony in court last week.

In one example, Golwalla said that Nygard initially told a Toronto detective that he did not recall going to a Gatineau, Que., club where he met one of the alleged victims in the late 1980s.

The attorney suggested that Nygard only said that he was at the club once the detective showed him a photo, but Nygard argued that the photo simply helped refresh his memory.

The Crown then moved on to a line of questioning regarding a Rolling Stones concert, held at Toronto’s then-Sky Dome in December 1989, that one of the complainants said Nygard invited her to.

On Wednesday, Nygard said he’d never been to the SkyDome “in his life” and denied inviting the woman.

The Crown pointed back to Nygard’s police interview, during which he had said, “Whatever it is, if there was a big show in town, we would go.” To that, Nygard told the court he did not consider the Rolling Stones “a big show” and therefore both statements could be true.

Golwalla then asked about the company's Toronto headquarters, located at 1 Niagara Street, where Nygard is accused of constructing a secret bedroom within the walls in which the sexual assaults allegedly occurred

The Crown attorney confirmed with Nygard that the door to the private room was mirrored on both sides and that it could only be locked or unlocked from the inside.

In his testimony, Nygard said the room was outfitted as such to keep confidential documents secure.

A code was required to enter this area, Nygard and Golwalla agreed. In his testimony last week, Nygard identified the code as ‘1234;’ However, when asked about that code on Wednesday, he gave a different account, stating he didn’t believe that code was secure enough to be used for that room.

“If you really had important documents in there, then a simple code like ‘1234’ is probably a failing strategy?” Golwalla asked.

Nygard agreed, adding “That’s definitely not the right strategy.”

“But you told us [...] last week you said it was the code you used,” the Crown’s lawyer said.

Nygard maintained that he couldn’t remember which door used which code and underlined that they were changed often for security reasons. He said ‘1234’ may have been the code to the facility’s front door, instead.

Last week, Nygard testified that he was honest with detectives during the October 2021 interview, as he had “nothing to hide.”

The Crown’s cross-examination will continue on Thursday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.