The woman accused of setting traps for mountain bikers on North Shore trails opted to have her lawyer appear on her behalf for her initial court appearance Wednesday.
The first court date drew a crowd of interested media and mountain bikers but there was little for the Crown and Tineke (Tina) Kraal’s lawyer Martin Peters to discuss inside the courtroom so early in the court process.
RCMP allege the Upper Lynn Valley resident repeatedly laid branches, logs and sticks across steep sections of the Lower Skull and Quarry Court trail on Mount Fromme. Two mountain bikers placed hidden cameras in the trees around the trail to capture footage of the suspect, which they then turned over to the RCMP.
Kraal, 64, has been formally charged with setting or placing a trap with intent to injure, mischief by obstructing use of property, and mischief endangering life.
“These are very serious charges and we’ll have to take them very seriously,” Peters said outside the North Vancouver provincial courthouse.
Peters said he hasn’t yet seen the entirety of the Crown’s case or the mountain bikers’ covert footage but said there is some concern over its reliability.
“It can make evidence more problematic from a proof standpoint,” he said. “The RCMP know what they’re doing when they set up a camera. They can accurately record what’s going on, when it’s happening. I don’t know about how accurate an amateur could be in terms of what it’s recording, when it’s recording, what it shows, how clearly it shows whatever it shows.”
Peters wouldn’t comment on how his client is doing. Kraal’s husband earlier told The Province that she was afraid to leave their home in the wake of her arrest.
Kraal is currently under a court order to stay away from all hiking and mountain biking trails.
The case has been held over until Feb. 18.
District of North Vancouver council, meanwhile, is scheduled to receive a report evaluating its trails policy at the Feb. 23 regular meeting.
Mayor Richard Walton said the philosophy of the district is that the trails are open to users of all types and that some conflicts are bound to happen.
Walton said there are no plans to drastically change how the trails are operated. At most, the council may look at new signs directing users to different trails, but only after thorough public consultation.
Recent high-profile conflicts aren’t typical, he added.
“There’s certainly no ‘war in the woods,’” he said.
