Ali's lawyers fear dead girl's dad, as police probe claim he brought gun to court

The father of a murdered 13-year-old girl has been under police investigation for allegedly bringing a gun into a Vancouver courtroom on the day that Ibrahim Ali was convicted of the killing, the man's lawyer has told a hearing.

Lawyers for Ali are refusing to show up to court for post-trial proceedings citing safety concerns about the man, who can't be named because of a publication ban on the identity of the murdered girl.

McCullough and co-counsel Ben Lynskey are trying to have the father excluded from attending Ali's post-trial hearings in any way, and don't want a Mandarin court interpreter to translate for him. The father of the girl has retained a lawyer to fight for the right to listen to the post-trial hearings.

Ali, who appeared by video Wednesday, was convicted last month of first-degree murder in the killing the girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in July 2017. He is yet to be sentenced but faces a mandatory life term with no chance of parole for 25 years.