Byron Sonne’s former Toronto backyard raided by bomb squad, a suspicious package removed

Just as his trial wrapped up, Toronto police raided the former home of an anti-G20 protester charged as a would-be bomb-maker.

On Wednesday, the police bomb squad removed a container of what they say was explosive materials from an underground backyard "storage magazine" and destroyed it at an isolated location by the waterfront, the National Post reported.

"It was a container," Const. Wendy Drummond told CityNews. "And inside that container were three other containers that were sealed. So we don't know exactly what was in there, but we do have reason to believe the material is dangerous if not explosive."

The house in the upscale Forest Hills neighbourhood was once the home of so-called "G20 Geek" Byron Sonne. His estranged wife still lives there.

Sonne is charged with four counts of possessing explosive substances and one of counselling the commission of mischief not committed. His trial before Ontario Superior Court ended Monday and a verdict is scheduled to be handed down April 23.

The G20 opponent was arrested a week before the June 2010 summit in Toronto but police found no bombs.

Sonne was held in jail for 11 months and Maclean's magazine tech blogger Jesse Brown questioned the way police staged the raid on his one-time home.

Police told the Canadian Press a reference in Sonne's trial led them to dig up the backyard, evacuating several neighbouring houses while the bomb squad removed the suspected container.

"They found… something, whisked it to the Leslie Street Spit in a massive convoy, and burned it," Brown wrote. "Initially they planned to detonate it, but apparently it won't detonate. So what was in it? The cops called it 'explosive material' and CTV reported that it was an 'explosive device.' Most likely, it was potassium chlorate, a perfectly legal substance found in matchsticks and firecrackers (also in disinfectants and fertilizer) but which is not itself explosive."

Sonne claims chemicals seized at the time he was charged were for growing crystals and for his model rocket hobby.

Brown suggested the raid might have aimed to bolster the case against Sonne as the judge began considering her verdict. He's threatened to sue authorities for incarcerating him for almost a year and ruining his marriage.