Three Guilty Pleas Entered in Sharif Rahman Case; Robert Evans Jr. Arraigned for Sentencing
Robert Evans Jr., the man accused in the 2023 death of Owen Sound restaurateur Sharif Rahman, appeared in court this morning alongside his father and uncle to resolve their charges.
The three U.K. men charged in the 2023 homicide of Sharif Rahman pled guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Owen Sound this morning. Justice C. Chorney accepted their pleas and heard arguments — and statements of apology — before remanding Robert Evans Jr. (also known as Michael Jones), 25, back into custody until July 10 for sentencing.
His two co-accused will hear their sentencing decisions at 2:00 p.m. today.
Evans Jr. was charged with manslaughter in the death of Sharif Rahman; his father, Robert Busby Evans Sr. (also known as Justin Jones), 49, and uncle, Barry Evans, 55, were each charged with accessory after the fact to manslaughter.
Busby Evans Sr. and Evans Jr. were arrested in Edinburgh on July 30, 2024, and have been in custody since that date, first in Scotland and more recently in Canada. Barry Evans was arrested on an international warrant in Dalkeith, Scotland, on Oct. 29, 2024, and has been held in the same facilities since. All three consented to extradition and were returned to Canada on Dec. 11, 2025.
All three men addressed the court before sentencing. Barry Evans and Robert Busby Evans Sr. had their statements read by their counsel; Robert Evans Jr. read his aloud himself.
Barry Evans apologized to the court, to Rahman’s family and to the community, saying he is deeply sorry and saddened by how the night of the incident ended and that it has had a dramatic impact on the family. He described the case as a living nightmare that haunts him daily, said there was nothing he could say to make things right, and acknowledged that Rahman was a family man whose loss will have a lasting impact. He said it is an incident he will never forget and that he will be forever sorry for his role.
Robert Busby Evans Sr. apologized for his involvement and noted he was not present and so could not speak to what happened. He said he had raised his son to be respectful, called the death a horrible accident, and said he believed none of the men involved wanted the night to end that way. He said they will live with the sadness for the rest of their lives, and apologized again to the family.
Robert Evans Jr. read his own statement aloud, apologizing to Rahman’s family and describing him as a good man, respected in his community and loved by his family. He said it never should have happened, that there were things he should have done differently that day, and that he is sickened by the damage he caused. He said he hopes to be forgiven one day but understands if he never is, prays for the family daily, and apologized to the Owen Sound community.
Background
Shortly after 9 p.m. on August 17, 2023, Sharif Rahman was assaulted on 2nd Avenue East in downtown Owen Sound, outside his restaurant, The Curry House, following a dispute over a bill with men who had been dining there. He suffered critical head injuries, was taken to a trauma centre in London, Ontario, and died there one week later, on August 24, 2023. Police deemed his death a homicide.
At the time, police released few details and no names. Much of what is now alleged about that night, and about the men accused, emerged far later — through their extradition hearings in Scotland.
A secretive investigation, and arrests abroad
The Grey Bruce detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) joined the investigation on August 26, 2023. In the weeks after the assault, OSPS released only a handful of grainy surveillance images — two men running and a fleeing vehicle — and little else. What followed became notable for a level of secrecy rarely seen in a Canadian homicide file.
For more than a year, investigators released no suspect names, no arrest details and no public account of what had happened.
Police Scotland arrested two of the men in Edinburgh on July 30, 2024. Canadian police confirmed that arrests had been made but would not say how many, who had been charged, or where. The third man was arrested in Dalkeith, Scotland, on October 29, 2024.
It was not until December 18, 2024 — through a prepared statement, with no questions taken — that OSPS and the OPP publicly named three UK nationals charged in connection with Rahman’s death. Owen Sound Current set out what was then known about the men in the days that followed.
The extradition fight in Edinburgh
The substance of the case against the men first emerged not in Canada but in Scotland, through their extradition proceedings. Owen Sound Current attended each of those hearings in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and reviewed the Canadian authorities’ affidavits under court supervision — investigative detail that has not been aired in a Canadian courtroom.
It was through those filings that a fuller account of the night took shape. Police allege that after the men refused to pay their bill, Rahman followed them onto the street, where Robert Evans Jr. punched him with such force that his head struck the pavement — a sound multiple witnesses likened to a bowling ball dropped onto concrete.
The affidavits allege the men then regrouped about 65 kilometres away in Collingwood and left the country within days: Robert Evans Jr. flew from Toronto to London Heathrow on August 18, two others flew to Glasgow the same day, and his father left for Manchester near the end of the month.
A series of preliminary hearings ran from April to July 2025 before Sheriff Julius Komorowski. On July 31, 2025, Komorowski ruled that the conduct described in Canada’s request, had it occurred in Scotland, would constitute an offence punishable by at least 12 months’ imprisonment — the “dual criminality” threshold required before extradition can proceed.
The remaining obstacle was the defence’s argument that conditions in Ontario’s prisons — which it characterized as overcrowded and substandard — would breach the men’s human rights if they were returned. The Scottish court asked Canada for formal assurances about where the men would be held. Canadian authorities provided only partial information; the federal Department of Justice told Owen Sound Current it had supplied the requested material, while Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General said it does not disclose where individual inmates are held. Komorowski set an August 21, 2025 deadline for the outstanding assurances.
Consent, then return to Canada
The question was never resolved. As the full extradition hearing was set to open in October, all three men instead, on October 20, 2025, unexpectedly consented to extradition and waived their right to appeal, abandoning the prison-conditions argument.
During that hearing, Komorowski read a letter from Canadian authorities dated October 3, 2025, stating that if the men were convicted, a recommendation would be made to credit time served in Scotland against any sentence — but that this was not a guarantee.
Robert Currie, a professor of transnational criminal law at Dalhousie University, told Owen Sound Current at the time that he expected the men to be surrendered to Canada within weeks, and that he was surprised the prison-conditions assurances had been dropped from the process.
The OPP announced late on December 11, 2025 that the three had been escorted back to Ontario by OPP and OSPS investigators, with assistance from the UK National Extradition Unit and Police Scotland.
Back in Owen Sound court
The men made their first Canadian court appearance on December 12, 2025, before Justice of the Peace Kathryn Kellough. Crown prosecutor Patrick Clement sought, and was granted, denial of bail for all three, a publication ban on evidence presented at any bail hearing, and a no-contact order covering Rahman’s family and witnesses. All three were remanded into custody.
The months that followed were dominated by disclosure. Defence counsel for each man repeatedly told the court they were waiting on material — first paper records, then video surveillance and statements that had to be delivered in usable electronic form — and appearance after appearance ended without progress. Judicial pre-trials in all three matters were held April 24, 2026. By late March, comments in court suggested at least one accessory case was “resolution-minded”. By early May, the Crown told the court it expected the cases to resolve, and that Robert Busby Evans Sr. would be in a “time served position” by June 5 — the reason that date was set for all three. All three were ordered to appear in person.
By the time of the June 5 hearing, Robert Busby Evans Sr. and Robert Evans Jr. had been in custody since their arrests on July 30, 2024; Barry Evans since October 29, 2024.
Who are the Evans men?
Robert Evans Jr., 25, is charged with manslaughter. His father, Robert Busby Evans Sr., and his uncle, Barry Evans, are each charged with accessory after the fact to manslaughter. Two of the men entered Canada on UK passports issued in other names — Robert Jr. as Michael Jones, and his father as Justin Jones — which the Canada Border Services Agency characterized as valid. How and why they obtained passports under those names has not been addressed in open court.
Media reports and the extradition affidavits describe the men as Irish Travellers, a recognized ethnic minority in the UK; the designation does not require Irish nationality, and the men are UK citizens.
According to the affidavits reviewed by Owen Sound Current, they worked across Southwestern Ontario in the summer of 2023 as a door-to-door paving crew operating under the name Total Paving, taking cash and, in at least one case, a vehicle in trade.
The crew came to police attention before the assault: the affidavits document OPP interactions in Listowel and Perth County in which Barry Evans told officers he was in Canada on a work visa and showed a photo of his passport on his phone. An August 4, 2023 Better Business Bureau complaint described an aggressive door-to-door salesman calling himself “Bob” working under the Total Paving name in Collingwood.
The affidavits also make clear that more than the three accused were involved that summer and that night. A fourth family member, Justin Evans — a brother of Robert Evans Jr. — is identified as having been present at the restaurant but is not charged in connection with Rahman’s death, and the filings name additional paving crew members.
What remains unknown
Owen Sound Current has chosen, throughout the case, not to publish specifics from the affidavits that could compromise the integrity of the proceedings.
Several questions remain open: how the men obtained passports under the Jones names and what their immigration status was; whether Canada’s prison assurances were ever completed (a point rendered moot by the men’s consent to extradition); and, until the court record shows otherwise, exactly what each man will admit to.
None of the allegations described above has been tested at trial.
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